The Violator
by evgrrl09
Summary: The BAU is called in by the SVU to solve a crime. While there, Benson helps Morgan realize his feelings for Garcia while falling for JJ in the process. Pairings: Morgan/Garcia, Benson/JJ
1. SVU, Meet BAU

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Here's my latest crossover! I know I still have two others in progress, but when you can't get something out of your head, what're ya gonna do about it? Hope you enjoy! Another quick note: Stabler is in this.**

_New York, New York – 11:42 pm_

"What've we got?" Olive asked, ducking under the crime scene tape beside Elliot. It was elven o'clock in the evening and they were investigating yet another rape and murder case committed by the killer the press had dubbed "The Violator" due to his mutilation done to the bodies. To make matters worse, he was recording video diaries and posting them on the internet with his face covered up, his voice tuned out, and his every little detail about the killings revealed.

Their medical examiner Warner gestured to the body of a girl who couldn't have been older than eighteen, her face slashed up and her body covered in deep lacerations.

"Our perp struck again," she said bitterly, shaking her head from her position of kneeling down next the body. "This guy is getting worse."

Olivia sighed as she looked at the poor girl on the ground. The bastard who'd done this to her deserved to rot in a cell for the rest of eternity. And he would if she got her hands on him. "Do we have a name on our victim?"

"One of the ladies over there identified her as one of the regulars on this block," Fin reported. "Her street name is Kitty Duvall…real name Sally Hawkins. She's seventeen years old. She was apparently going to college at Hudson, doing this on the side to pay the tuition is what her girlfriends over there tell me."

"All that was found on her person was a purse, usual things for a prostitute: lipstick, wad of cash, et cetera," one of the other officers added.

From beside her, Elliot's cell phone rang and he answered it. Olivia took the opportunity to survey the scene more. Her job was rough, she saw things no one else saw or even fathomed seeing. The capacity some people went to show their blatant disrespect for human life never ceased to amaze her. And this rapist, this killer, was one of the worst she'd seen in a long time.

"Yeah," her partner said into the phone before hanging up. Turning to her, he said, "Captain's on his way. He said he's got an announcement for us."

"I can only imagine what he's got to tell us," she huffed.

Twenty minutes later when Cragen arrived at the scene, Olivia, Elliot, and Fin gathered around to hear his announcement. "What's up, Captain?" Fin asked impatiently.

Cragen took a deep breath. "I know how you all feel about the Feds," he began hesitantly, "but there's not much more we can do now. We're up to our sixth victim and we have no idea what to do to catch this guy."

"So you're calling in the Feds?" Elliot asked incredulously. They all hated working with the Feds, particularly Elliot. "Captain, we can figure this guy out."

Cragen shook his head. "No," he said bluntly. "We can't risk another victim. So I've called in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit to assist. These people are top of the line, best at what they do. Maybe they can help us figure out what to do to catch this bastard. I'm sure they can help." He paused to study them all with a strict gaze. "I trust you can all be civil with them. They're here at my invitation."

With much grumbling, the detectives of the Special Victims Unit agreed to their Captain's decision and set about finishing the crime scene.

XXXXX

_Quantic, Virginia_

"What've we caught?" Alex Blake asked as she sat down with Derek Morgan by her side in the Round Table room.

At the head of the room, Penelope Garcia clicked the remote to show crime scene photos sent to her by the NYPD's Special Victim's Unit. "Six women have been killed viciously – faces slashed, bodies mutilated, and raped repeatedly – and their murders have been vlogged about on the web." Her face very clearly showed her disgust, her skin ashen and eyes dreading the talk.

"These are vicious killings, obvious overkill done to the bodies," Rossi said pointedly.

"Why the hell did it take them to _six_ victims to call us in?" Morgan demanded. "They should've called us in after two."

"Well, they haven't," Hotch said bluntly. "We've got to get in there and catch this unsub before he kills again." He turned to Garcia. "Garcia, you're coming with us. If this man is using the web to talk about his crime, we'll need you along."

She nodded. "Yes sir," she said.

Hotch rose. "Right then. Wheels up in thirty."

XXXXX

_New York, New York – SVU Precinct_

"Agents, I'm Captain Cragen," Cragen said, extending his hand to Hotch.

"Captain, it's good to meet you," Hotch said. "I'm Agent Hotchner…these are Agents Rossi, Morgan, Blake, and Jareau. This is Dr. Reid and our technical analyst Penelope Garcia."

Cragen nodded. "I suppose it's only fair to introduce my people to you too," he said. Motioning to his detectives to join him, he said, "Here we have Detectives Stabler, Benson, Tutuola, and Munch. They'll be who you're working with on the case." He shot his detectives a hard look, clearly telling them to be polite.

Detective Benson nodded to them. "Pleasure," she said.

She took the opportunity to observe the Agents. The two older of them were very clearly the leaders, while the youngest of the bunch was on edge. The long haired brunette was stood tall next to him and exuded intelligence. Behind them was the tall, extremely handsome African American man who was watching protectively over the red-headed technical analyst. In his gaze there was also deep love and affection. Essentially, the man was smitten.

But it was the blonde-haired agent that caught her eye. She was the most beautiful woman Olivia had seen. But before she could look at her more closely, she snapped out of the daze and focused on the case and what the head of the team was telling them.

"Blake and Reid, Captain Cragen wants you to go to the crime lab with Detective Stabler," Hotch said. "Rossi and I will speak to the families with the Captain, JJ and Morgan, you're with Detective Benson. Garcia will stay here with Detectives Munch and Tutuola."

"Let's get started then," Cragen said.


	2. Capture and Kill

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's CBS'. But you see, if I did own it, I would pay Kirsten Vangsness and AJ Cook every penny that I would pay the men. This is all hypothetical of course.**

**Here's my second chapter of this crossover. All day I have been spending my time on Twitter signing petitions and other websites trying to get CBS to pay Kirsten and AJ more money so they stay. I found time in between to write this :) Keeping my fingers crossed our favorite ladies on television will be back for a ninth season! Enjoy and please review!**

"This is where the most recent body was discovered," Olivia explained to JJ and Derek. They all got out of the car and she led the BAU agents towards the taped off alley. "Your fellow agents are at the lab talking to our M.E. and they're going to see the bodies."

Derek nodded. "So he's at least dumping them secluded area, but this kind of overkill? It _must_ be a dump site. I can't see anyone not hearing her scream. And she would scream with all the pain from the pre-mortem torture," he said, moving his sunglasses to the top of his head to squint at the scene. "There's not a lot of blood spatter either, just a pool of it where the body was lying."

While both JJ and Derek surveyed the scene and did their initial searches, Olivia took the opportunity to do an initial search on them. Agent Morgan was very clearly an alpha male, a leader. He was both intelligent and handsome and set on the job. There was also something standoffish about him that gave her the impression there were few people he trusted.

Petite Jennifer Jareau was the one who truly interested her. She looked more like a Hollywood star with her honey blonde hair and blue eyes. She also had a look of sadness in her eyes that seemed recent and judging by the faint tan line on her ring finger, Olivia guessed it might have something to do with that. She didn't know why, but something about this woman made her stop and stare.

Olivia shook her head. What was going on with her? She had to focus on the case, not some woman from the FBI.

"All of these women are a certain type," JJ observed as she looked at her tablet. "All of them attractive, red heads…"

"So he's got someone who reminds him of all the victims?" Olivia questioned. She went to stand by JJ and looked at the photos she'd pulled up of six beautiful redheads.

Derek nodded. "Right," he confirmed. "He attacks these women because to him they're substitutes. It would explain the overkill. He hates this person, whoever she is."

"It's only a matter of time before he catches up to the woman who these others are surrogates for," JJ said grimly.

Olivia sighed. Elliot would hate to hear her say this, but it was a good thing these agents were here.

From his pocket, Derek's cell phone rang and he glanced at the caller ID. "It's Garcia," he said to Olivia and JJ. "Hey Baby Girl," he said with a hint of a smile into the phone. "Tell me your sweet, sweet skills got me something good."

Olivia looked at JJ and cocked an eyebrow. JJ just shook her head in a "don't ask" motion.

"Alright sweet thing," Derek finished. "I'll let them know." Hanging up, he looked at the women. "Garcia found something about all six victims…a connection between all the women."

"We didn't find anything on all six of them," Olivia said. "What could she possibly have found?" The three of them began to head back to the car.

"In addition to being our analyst, Garcia is a hacker. She can find all sorts of dirt on anyone and anything," JJ explained. "She was put on a 'blacklist,' if you will. She can get stuff your people could never dream of finding."

Both of Olivia's brows rose this time.

_Who __are_ _these people? _she thought as she buckled in the driver's seat.

XXXXX

The SUV got stuck in traffic on the way back to the precinct so JJ took the opportunity to call her mother who was watching Henry while she was away. Derek glanced at her through the rearview mirror. He knew Will's death from cancer had hit her hard and he wanted to keep an eye on her. But his concern nowhere near matched that of Penelope's. His Baby Girl spent more time worrying about JJ than she did herself.

Detective Benson's voice broke through his thinking.

"So why do you call your technical analyst 'Baby Girl'?" she asked curiously. Is she your girlfriend?"

Derek's gaze flicked to the detective in the passenger seat beside him. She was the very first cop they'd worked with to ask him the question of him. Also she was the first to ask him if Garcia was his girlfriend.

"No," he said with a grin.

Did he want Penelope to be his girlfriend? Yes, with all his heart. But she didn't want him. He wasn't what she would need either. He was broken, she was whole. He was distrustful of the world, she trusted everyone almost instantly.

It was better that no one knew about his feelings.

"I just…called her 'Baby Girl' one day," he said.

By the way Olivia was staring at him after his answer, he had a feeling she was on to him.

"I'm more of a casual dater," he tried again.

He shot her another crooked grin.

"Well, maybe when this case is over you'll have a drink with me," he said. _That's what I do,_ he thought. _I ask a woman out?_ _God, I'm an idiot_.

She snorted a laugh. "I don't think so," she said with a small smile. "You're handsome, but you're not really my type." As she said that, her eyes drifted to the rearview mirror until her gaze fell on JJ.

Derek would've gawked if the flow of traffic hadn't started moving again. Detective Benson was looking at _JJ_.

Never in a million years would he have guessed it.

"I got ya," he said, nodding in understanding. When their eyes met briefly again before he turned back to the road, he added, "It's cool."

Olivia smiled. "I guess that one word for it."

XXXXX

Penelope had to give major props to both detectives Munch and Tutuola. They were both extremely good at their jobs. And while they both seemed to be uncertain of her at first, they warmed up after she dug through all the victims' financials to reveal a trail that connected all of them to one place. The NYPD hadn't thought they would need to dig too deep in the financials and thus hadn't found what she had.

"Tell me, how does a lady like you start working for the FBI?" Fin asked her as he brought her a cup of coffee from a café down the street. He'd been out anyway and had offered to get her a cup.

She looked up from her computer and winked at him. "Breaking the law my good sir," she informed him. He raised a brow at her and she added, "I hacked into the government's system. They tracked me down. Offered me a prison cell or working for them. I took working for them."

Fin smirked. "I see," he said.

From outside the room she was in, Penelope saw Derek returning with JJ and the extremely beautiful Detective Benson. Her face turned up into a smile and she was about ready to go meet him, until she saw what was going on between him and Olivia. They were laughing and looking like old friends.

A red hot flash of jealousy shot up her spine and she felt the smile fall promptly from her face. Here in front of her Derek was talking to probably one of the most drop-dead gorgeous women on the planet and here she was hoping he would come talk to her. What the hell was she thinking? There was no way he would if there was a beautiful woman around. There was no reason to. She didn't look anything like the woman.

The night after she'd tried to go on a date with Kevin to try and rekindle their relationship, he'd been there for her. Kevin – who knew he was such a jackass – slept with her again and told her _I'll see you around_, like she was a prostitute. Immediately afterwards, she called Derek and he'd come over to hold her while she cried. The night after that, he suggested they go out. She dyed her hair back to the red she'd had for a brief time for the occasion and just the two of them went out. While he'd been getting her a drink, she noticed he'd started flirting – or what appeared to be flirting – with the slim, bustier-wearing bar tender.

After that, she took off, not even bothering to tell him she was leaving.

XXXXX

JJ sighed heavily as she made her way to see Penelope about her big connection she'd found. She'd had a long year since Will died. In some ways it still haunted her. And she knew Penelope was worried about her. But she didn't know how to quell her fears. She knew her best friend was in constant fear that she would find her in the bathroom with her hair buzzed off.

Her therapist was thought she needed to be medicated for depression. And JJ was inclined to agree.

With Will's death, a new demon had been created in her.

"Hey you," she said as she joined Penelope beside the two more cynical detectives of the four. "You've got good stuff for us?"

With a vicious glare on her face, she stabbed the keys of her keyboard and gritted out, "Yes."

Slightly taken back, JJ looked at both detectives as they stood up abruptly. Clearly they were wary of womanly issues. Sitting down next to her, she put an elbow on the table and studied her. "What's going on in your genius head, Garcie?"

Her typing stopped abruptly. "I just don't understand what's wrong with me," she groaned. "I have no idea why he doesn't –" She stopped speaking.

"Oh…" She understood. Penelope was jealous of Detective Benson and the amount of friendly activity between her and Morgan. Taking her hand, she murmured, "Penelope, I wouldn't worry too much about her. Morgan, he may be acting friendly with her, but I wouldn't –"

A little more harshly than she meant to sound, Penelope snapped, "Just stop, JJ. I don't want to hear anything about the bastard. The incredibly buff, beautiful, cocoa ball of thunder who's a complete bastard, yet super caring and –"

"Talking about me?" Morgan asked with a cocky grin on his face as he joined them with Olivia next to him.

"Is he always like this?" Olivia asked, jerking a thumb in his direction.

Penelope, with tight lips, muttered, "Pfft. Believe it sister. This one…total jackass."

JJ noticed Derek looked taken back at his Baby Girl's behavior. Yet she couldn't help but smirk. Maybe now Morgan would get the balls to do something about this. It was no secret, his love for Penelope. Now he just had to do something.

When JJ's eyes met Olivia's, for some reason, she felt a spark inside herself like she knew the other woman was thinking the exact same thing she was.

XXXXX

_Somewhere Secluded – Midnight_

The man sat in front of his television, watching the news coverage of the FBI agents arriving to see the work he'd done. But something – rather, someone – caught his eye.

A red-head, just his type, emerging from one of the government's SUVs. He began to salivate as he looked at her. Lily white skin. Her hair so soft looking, even just on the screen. Her lush body that looked so touchable.

What would it be like to touch her? To mutilate her body in so many ways that it would make her unrecognizable.

This was by far the closest match he'd come to.

Behind her, standing extremely close, was a tall and devilishly handsome man who looked like a man absolutely star struck by being within even a small proximity of her.

Now he wondered: what would his grief be like when he saw the woman he loved – the woman who was the only one who could satisfy his blood lust – cut up and left in a dumpster? Would he feel the exact same abandonment at her leaving him?

There was only one way to find out.

Capture and kill.

**Fret not my pretties…happy endings all around! Please review if you have the time!**


	3. Work That's Right Work

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Here's the third chapter! And there should be much rejoicing as Criminal Minds is coming back for a ninth season with Kirsten Vangsness and AJ Cook! I'm also crossing my fingers that the character they kill off in the season finale is Kevin. That would just make my day :)**

**Anyways, enjoy this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW!**

Derek was thoroughly confused now as he, the rest of the BAU, and the SVU detectives filtered to where Penelope was preparing to show them all the information she'd uncovered. He had no idea what had gotten into her. On the phone she'd been cheerful and doting, but the moment he strode into the precinct she was fierce and fuming. And there was no telling what he had done to make her angry. He didn't recall anything stupid he'd done recently.

Now as they were all gathered together, he tried to grin at her. She merely narrowed her eyes and got ready to explain the connection she'd found. Frowning, he looked to his right where Olivia was smirking at him and playfully snapped, "Huh? What the look for?"

"I think you know, sweet heart," she snorted.

The nickname sounded so strange coming from another woman's lips other than Penelope's. But seeing as she was being less than pleasant with him, he decided to sit back and take what he could get. "Humph," he grunted.

"What do you have for us Garcia?" Hotch asked, crossing his arms over his chest. With gritted teeth, Penelope answered, "Yes, sir. And you're going to love yours truly for this. There was quite a bit of protection on their financials, but I managed to get around it. All six of them –"

"Let me guess," Elliot interrupted. "They all went to the same ultra-exclusive beauty salon?"

Penelope shot him a look saying, "No. I found out that they were all spending massive amounts of money by donating it. A lot of it. The bulk of their money each month went to a religious organization called 'The True Disciples'."

"Do we want to know what this group is like?" Blake asked dryly.

Penelope nodded. "It's a large – and by large, I mean HUGE – church based out of Brooklyn. I sent the address to your tablets already."

"It's the only connection between the women. That must be his hunting ground," Rossi said.

"Is this a real church?" Stabler asked. "How much information do you have on them?"

Biting her lip, Penelope continued, "They are a mega church, but not a normal one. They're like those Westboro Baptist people, only multiplied by one hundred. There are about one thousand people who attend it during the week, but they have services every day of the week but Mondays and Wednesdays so they're not all gathered together at once. In addition to the religious services they host several different Bible study sessions, youth groups, and even a permanent daycare center."

"So they spread hate every day of the week," Fin grumbled.

Penelope nodded. Turning her computer around so they could all see the screen, she pressed the "play" button and let the feed roll. "Check this out," she said. "It's one of six thousand and forty eight videos."

The room immediately filled with the sound of a middle-aged man's gravelly voice. Every word released from his made him sound like a nut job. "The Lord wants us to rid this world – HIS world – of filth that has contaminated it for far too long. We must rid the world of those who don't heed to God's word. We must abolish sin!"

"Leave it to the fundamentally insane to spread around hate," Munch snorted sarcastically. "Seriously, why is it always them? There must be a calling they have that attracts the others because I don't understand how they all find each other and multiply."

Cragen shot him a look, then turned to Hotch to ask, "What do you want to do, Agent? I'm following your lead on this."

Hotch nodded. "Rossi's right," he said. "It's very likely our unsub is part of this church if it's the only thing connecting our victims. Garcia, you said the tapes number in the thousands?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir," she confirmed. "Six thousand and forty eight."

"Seeing as this is our best lead, Garcia I need you to stay here and continue to try and find the signal where the videos are centered."

Cragen pointed to Munch and Fin. "Munch, Fin, you stay with her and go through the videos. Try and find out anything you can that might tell us more about the church or anything that seems similar to what they're doing with the other videos or what they're saying."

Hotch continued. "Morgan and JJ, I'd like you to team up with Detective Benson again to talk to the parish leader."

Penelope chimed in. "His name is Andrew Franklin," she said.

He nodded. "Right. Blake and Reid, you and Detective Stabler go with, but I want you talking to employees. Rossi and I are going to visit with the victims' families again to talk about their involvement with the church."

Everyone immediately moved into action. As he was following Olivia and JJ out the door, he stopped briefly and touched Penelope's arm. She stepped backwards and he felt like he'd been stung. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked quietly. "You're acting…odd."

She sighed, but gave him a weak smile anyway. "Just not feeling very great, lover," she said tiredly. She watched as he opened his mouth to say more, but she cut him off. "Morgan, go," she said harshly, ignoring the wounded puppy dog look on his face.

Sighing, he nodded and leaned forward to kiss her forehead, then took off out the door.

XXXXX

JJ slid into the SUV beside Olivia as Derek and Blake slid into the front of it. She glanced over at the detective. She wondered what it took to work crimes that much of the time involved children.

"How long have you been doing this job?" she blurted to Olivia.

The older woman looked over at her with a curious expression on her face. "Twelve years," she answered. "How long? How long have you been with the FBI?"

"Almost ten years," she murmured. "I was at the Pentagon for a while in between those though."

Making small talk with a sex crimes cop was proving somewhat difficult. She was certainly interested in what she had to say. It was mainly talking to someone new that put her on edge. After Will died, she'd shut down from anyone new. Literally no one. Her therapist had recommended she get out meet new people and reenter the world as she used to be.

She'd had no interest in it though.

But for some reason she could see herself getting to know this detective. She felt some form of a connection to her that she couldn't explain.

"How many sex crimes have you worked?" Olivia asked.

JJ wondered if this was all they would talk about, their jobs. She couldn't quite figure out why she minded so much.

In fact, she couldn't figure out why she minded any of this.

XXXXX

As they pulled into the Church of the True Disciples, Olivia was confused. She was confused by her awkward conversation with JJ. They'd talked about their jobs. Their jobs, for Christ sake. From the front seat she could see Derek Morgan looking at her with a smirk from in the rearview mirror and she had to resist the urge to smack him.

"Alright, let's get going. Blake, you and Reid know what to do. We'll hit up the parish leader and see what's going on and how well he knew the victims. You guys check with employees," Morgan instructed, interrupting Olivia thoughts. "Let's do this."

She sighed internally. Work. That's right. Work.


	4. The Church Of The True Disciples

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Here's the 4****th**** chapter of this! Sorry it's a bit delayed…thank you for the kind reviews :)**

Derek, JJ, and Olivia entered through the busy atrium of the Church of the True Disciples with Elliot, Blake, and Reid. Elliot moved up next to Olivia. "So how are the Feds treating you?" he asked his partner. "Well? Because if they're not, I'll make sure to –"

Olivia cut him off by patting his shoulder. "El, don't worry about it," she whispered back. "They're fine. Agent Morgan is great. Agent Jareau is –"

She was cut off in her explanation by a person who worked at the church coming to speak with them and the rest of the agents. "Welcome to the home of the home of the True Disciples!" she boomed. "We live to serve God and we welcome all who seek out his guidance. My name is Angie. How may we help you?" A huge, almost blinding grin lit up her face and she clapped her hands together.

Elliot held up his badge for them to see. "You can give us information on six girls who've been raped and murdered," he said bluntly. "I'm Detective Stabler and this is my partner Detective Benson. Along with us are these FBI agents."

The woman's face fell and she paled. "Oh dear," she said, her hand going to her throat. "That's terrible! But I'm wondering what could we here at the Church of the True Disciples have to do with those."

Blake arched a brow at Angie. "These six women all attended this church," she explained. She held up her tablet with pictures of all six victims displayed and added, "You're saying you don't know any of these women?"

Angie shook her head and her mouth formed a small "o." "No," she said. "There are about one thousand Disciples that go to Church here. And I only come to two of the seven services they hold during the week. These women could come to any number of services."

Derek shook his head. "We're going to have to speak with your pastor, Andrew Franklin," he said. "Agent Blake and Dr. Reid and Detective Stabler will be going to interview your fellow employees while Agent Jareau, Detective Benson, and I talk to Franklin."

"That's _Father_ Franklin to you," Angie snapped, glaring at Derek in the process. "I'll take you to his office right now…if you promise to be polite and show him respect. Father Franklin is a very important and wholly good man. You don't –"

"Miss, why don't you stop lecturing the agent and take us to him," Olivia said sharply. "We're going to need to talk to him now."

"Fine," Angie huffed and started in the direction they were supposed to go.

XXXXX

"I'm starting to want to break my own ears off," Fin grunted after he'd finished another video off the True Disciples' webpage.

Penelope laughed and took a sip of her coffee. "It's okay," she said. "I have moments where I want to take my eyes out with a rusty spoon after some of the things I see on my screens back at the BAU."

He smirked at her statement. "How's it going over there with the computers over there? Anything yet?" he asked curiously.

"Unfortunately no," she sighed. "I've just started another search that's going to take maybe an hour or two to finish completely." One of her three computers let out a ding and she rolled her chair over to it. "Ah, and this is my background check on Father Andrew Franklin!"

Munch snorted. "The government and their ability to find every little thing out about us," he said.

Penelope pursed her lips in a smile. She was enjoying this cynical detective. "Don't worry," she said. "I pinky promise I won't be checking up on you." Her eyes continued to look at the screen and scan for facts about Andrew Franklin. "All normal stuff," she said, biting her lip. "Until we get to…this."

"What is it?" Fin asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at what she was talking about.

She picked up her fluffy-topped purple pen and jotted something down on her yellow legal pad. "See this?" she pointed out. "This is a record of attendance at Matthewson's Sanitarium in upstate New York. But the weird thing is nothing's listed for _why_ he was going up there every month. There's nothing in his file that would suggest he needed hospitalization and he's not been prescribed any medications."

"I'll make a call up to Matthewson's Sanitarium and see what they have to say for why our good holy man was visiting every month up until..." Munch started. He looked to Penelope for when he'd stopped.

"December of two years ago," she reported.

"I'm all over it," he said, saluting her as he went to find a phone.

From the table, Penelope's phone vibrated and her photo ID picture of Derek kissing the top of her head. Glaring at it, she hit the ignore button and continued working on the computer.

Five minutes later the phone buzzed again and she groaned.

It didn't go unnoticed by Fin.

"What's up with you and him?" he asked, pointing at the picture of her and Derek on the phone as the phone buzzed one last time. "And why do you seem so mad at him?"

Furrowing her brow and pretending to be confused, she asked innocently, "Who are you talking about?"

He smirked. "You and that Agent Morgan guy," he stated knowingly. He knew she was intentionally stalling and avoiding the subject. "Spill on it."

"There's nothing to spill on Der – er, Morgan and I are merely friends," she said snippily. "Best friends who just so happen –"

Fin cut her off. "Best friends who just so happen to call each other 'Hot Stuff' and 'Baby Girl'?" he interrupted with an even wider smirk.

She shot him a look. "Don't get me started," she said as he laughed.

XXXXX

Derek was extremely confused as to why Penelope wasn't answering her phone. They'd been instructed to wait for a little while outside Andrew – oh, _Father_ – Franklin's office. So he took the opportunity to call her and press her more on her behavior from earlier. While he listened to the rings on the phone, he noticed JJ and Olivia's behavior towards each other. They were standing oddly close to each other. Or maybe it wasn't so odd. After Will had died, he had no idea if JJ would ever get back in the swing of things with dating.

A sex crimes detective from New York wasn't _exactly_ what he thought she would start with, but judging by the way she was looking at Olivia, there was something there. Something that made JJ look different. Color was back in her cheeks, for one, and she'd begun to make small talk with someone.

Maybe things were looking up for JJ.

Derek just hoped she would find a way to heal her heart.

Once again his Baby Girl's phone went to voicemail and he had to resist the urge to shout out a curse word. He had no idea what was going on with the woman today. He would have to figure it out later. Replacing his phone in his leather jacket's pocket, he stayed back while observing JJ and Olivia out of the corner of his eye. The way Olivia was looking at JJ was somewhat protective, like she didn't want to see her in harm's way.

Yet another reason for Derek to like her.

"Detective, Agents," a perky voice said. "The Reverend Father will see you now."

Derek nodded and joined the women in his company and nodded. "Take us to him, if you would," he directed.

XXXXX

_Somewhere Secluded – Midnight _

He sat in the room watching the television footage from the FBI's arrival over and over again, pausing it every so often to get different angles of the red head. There was nothing he could focus on but touching the silkiness of her hair at some point. Her skin looked equally delectable. Maybe he could sink his teeth into it to mar it. The options were endless.

She was the perfect match.

The best part was he'd found her somewhere outside of the Church. She wasn't from the same crop as where he normally got his girls. She was…fresh, somehow.

One thing he couldn't stand was the man who was standing behind her in the footage, his hand almost touching the small of her back. He would kill him if he ever got the chance for being so close to _his_ girl.

His plan would go into motion soon. As soon as everything was settled, he would set the plan in motion.


	5. The Word of God

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Sorry I don't update this quickly enough…here's the fifth chapter! Another one coming for 'Hate To Love You' as well. In the meantime, enjoy this :)**

Andrew Franklin, the leader of the Church of True Disciples was nothing out of the ordinary in a man. At least in the physical sense. He was around middle to late fifties in age, had silvery-gray hair, and a pair of normal green eyes. Nothing was strange about the way he looked.

However the moment he opened his mouth was another story entirely.

"Ah, welcome to this splendid house of God!" he boomed, rising from behind his ornate mahogany desk and clapping his hands together. "I'm Father Andrew Franklin and Angie tells me that you all are here to talk to me about some tragic murders that occurred. However we and God may offer guidance, let us know."

Derek, JJ, and Olivia all raised their eyebrows in utter disbelief. JJ was the first to speak. "Er, thank you, but we just need your help. Not God's."

"Everyone needs God's help," Father Franklin said, still grinning widely. "Never underestimate the power of the Lord for he can be our –"

Derek held up his hand. "Thank you for the…wisdom, Father, but we're really just here to talk about the girls," he said swiftly. "Not to get preached at."

Father Franklin's face hardened and he set his jaw in a rough line. "Well then, please have a seat," he said, gesturing to the extremely expensive sitting area. In fact, the entire office was decorated in a highly priced fashion with all mahogany furniture and leather chairs and pieces of artwork. They all took seats and Olivia immediately started in on the questioning. Derek and JJ were fine with giving her the lead.

"Father, we have a few questions for you regarding these six members of your church," she said as JJ pulled out her tablet. Briefly her fingers brushed Olivia's and both of them looked slightly shocked. Shaking her head swiftly to snap out of it, she produced the tablet and its pictures to the Father. "These six girls were all raped and murdered and their murders were vlogged about on the internet by the still unknown assailant," she explained.

"These girls all attended some of my services," he said solemnly. "I never knew any of them personally, but I recognize them all."

Derek cocked a brow. "These girls all made very sizeable donations every month to this church and you didn't know any of them well?" he asked bluntly.

The Father shook his head again. "No Agent, I'm sorry," he said, his voice still very calm. "You see, all of the patrons at the church pay money every month because they believe in the word of God that we preach to the world. And besides, I don't handle the finances. That's George Hanson. We don't trust a woman with the funds you see," he added with a laugh. He winked at JJ and Olivia both. "You females like to spend money."

JJ and Olivia just stared him down with withering stares.

"Alright, we'll talk to him when we're done here," Derek interrupted, steering the conversation away from the Father's blatant sexism. Apparently he didn't know how to talk to women who carried guns. "What we also want to talk to about is your Church's male members. Have you noticed any of them who exhibit odd behavior, maybe a particular attachment to certain women?"

Father Franklin's eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask about our men?" he demanded. "You think one of them had something to do with the murders of these girls? Because I can assure you that there are no men who are capable of murder here. It's against the word of God. 'Thou shalt not murder,'" he quoted.

"That means nothing if they are mentally ill," JJ said. "We think this church is his hunting ground because all the victims come from here. Can you think of any men who have gone through a personal loss of a relationship with a redheaded woman? Maybe they came to you for advice or guidance."

Something flashed in Father Franklin's eyes and his voice stiffened. "I'm afraid I cannot disclose any information on people who have come to me for counsel," he said coarsely. "It is private and someone who comes to me is assured that it will be kept in confidence." He looked at his watch briefly and shook his head, clucking his tongue in the process. "I'm sorry Agents and Detective," he said. "I unfortunately have a meeting I must attend. Feel free to show yourselves out."

And then he was gone, swiftly from the room.

JJ and Olivia shared a look and Derek scoffed. "That man is hiding something," he snapped, rising from the desk. "Did you see the way he shut down?"

Olivia nodded and they all headed out of the office. "We'll just have to figure it out," she huffed as they made their way back to the atrium of the building.

XXXXX

"Thanks for the coffee," Penelope said, taking a quick sip of her fourth cup of coffee for the afternoon. She winked up at Fin. "You're too kind, sweet cheeks."

He laughed. "Oh I'm not touching that," he said, plopping back down next to her.

She frowned at him. "What the hell does that mean?" she asked. The flirting was completely platonic, but usually people got into it.

He smirked at her. "I'd rather not get the shit beaten out of me," he said. "You're a lovely lady and all, but I'm pretty sure Agent Morgan would kill me if I went anywhere near you."

Scowling at him, she huffed, "Listen mister, there is nothing – I repeat, _nothing_ – going on between me and Morgan. He absolutely does not think of me that way. He goes for a more Detective Benson type woman."

"Have you _seen_ the way that man looks at you?" Fin asked incredulously. "He looks at you like he'd do anything to protect you."

Penelope blushed scarlet all the way to her ears. "We're just best friends," she argued. "Trust me."

He opened his mouth again to say something when Munch came striding over to them with a grim expression on his face. "Well I didn't get much out of them, but I did get that he was just a visitor and that he spent a lot of time doing group prayer and preaching to the patients, which was allowed because the facility is a Christian facility," he grumbled. "That's all they would tell me. No reason why his visits stopped abruptly."

Penelope cursed. "I better call Morgan and let him know what we found," she said, ignoring Fin's look when she mentioned Derek's name. She listened to the ringing of the phone, but it didn't last long; he picked up on the first ring.

"Baby Girl?" he said urgently. "Listen, I wanted to make sure you're okay. I'm still really worried about you and –"

She cut him off midsentence. "Don't worry about it, darling," she said, touched by his concern for her. Derek was always concerned for her. "Listen, I've got some information for you. I ran a background check on your Holy Father figure and found something interesting. Up until December of two years ago, he visited the Matthewson Sanitarium every month."

"He was a patient there?"

"Nope," she replied. "We couldn't figure out why he was up there. When Munch called to ask about it they said all he did was his preachy duties that he claims God thrust upon him to tell the world." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, we'll have to wait to question him because he just retreated to a meeting," Derek sighed tiredly. Someone said something on the other line and then he added, "Olivia is getting the others together and we're heading back to the precinct to put the profile together more. What do you want us to grab you for lunch?"

A pit formed in Penelope's stomach and she fought past the lump in her throat. _Olivia?_ He was calling her by her first name? Rubbing her temple, she muttered, "Just grab me whatever."

"Okay, and I really hope –"

She hung up before he could continue.


	6. Growing Body Count

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Here's the next chapter of this! Sorry it's so late :( Thank you for the reviews guys! I'm glad you're liking it…enjoy!**

The team was all gathered back in the precinct with lunch to go through what everyone had learned from the employees at the Church of the True Disciples and the victims' families. Olivia observed Derek trying desperately to get Penelope to talk to him. She thought their behavior was laughable. Both of them were completely convinced the other had nothing but platonic feelings for them. It was one of the most bizarre situations she'd ever seen.

"How long have they been like this?" she asked JJ who she was sitting next to. She took a deep drink of her soda and tilted her head in question.

JJ glanced in the direction Olivia had tilted her head and smirked. Morgan was very clearly trying to get Penelope to speak to him, but she was ignoring him to chat with Fin. It was clearly driving him mad because he was glaring at the other man with a vicious expression. "The two of them have been like that nine years," she told him. "It's insane. They just need to hook up already."

Olivia laughed. "They should get the hint," she muttered. She looked at JJ again and asked, "How about you? Do you have a boyfriend?"

JJ stiffened and her eyes flashed. Quietly, she murmured, "I – I had a husband," she started. "He died from cancer last year."

So that was where her external sadness came from. Olivia had wondered who or what had made JJ so forlorn looking and now she knew. "I'm sorry," she whispered sympathetically. "I didn't mean to pry."

JJ shook her head. "No," she murmured. "It's okay. You don't need to tip toe around me. I've been dealing with it."

Olivia wanted to say more, but Hotch unofficially called the room to order by entering and asking Penelope, "Garcia, you did a background check on Father Andrew Franklin?"

Penelope jumped up from her seat, looking relatively eager to get away from him. She started typing away on her laptop and nodded. "Yes, I did sir," she said, taking a sip of her coffee. "We found out that until December of two years ago that he was visiting a mental hospital in Upstate New York monthly, but we never found out why. Detective Munch called them to see what he went up there for because there was no listed reason and he wasn't on any medication. They refused to give a reason for his visits, but they did say that he was preaching and giving his religion a name around there."

"They were much less than gracious," Munch said dryly.

"So that's what we found on him," she said. "He's clean."

Hotch nodded. "Alright," he said, turning to Derek, JJ, and Olivia. "Morgan, JJ, Benson, what did you find out talking to him?"

JJ snorted. "He's a sanctimonious prick," she said. "Obviously narcissistic. Sexist as well."

"He got extremely defensive of the male members of his church when we asked if any of them stuck out to him," Olivia added. "He also go very stingy with information when we mentioned some certain traits the perp might have. He knows about something going on."

Derek nodded in agreement. "Liv's right," he said, nodding in Olivia's direction. "He's hiding something."

JJ glanced up to see Penelope's now suddenly pale face. She wished she could beat it into Derek's head what he was doing. Calling Olivia "Liv" was just going to hurt her feelings and make her upset. As if on cue, she could almost see tears rising in Penelope's eyes and her friend's struggle to hide them.

"We still have to talk to the bookkeeper," he continued, oblivious to what he'd just done to Penelope. "That's all we got."

"What did the rest of the employees have to say?" Hotch asked, directing his attention towards Stabler, Blake, and Reid. "They must've had something to add."

Stabler nodded. "Yeah, they all had something to say," he grumbled. "They were all spouting off about how much God and Jesus were doing to help the families of the bereaved. Every last one of them."

"He's not exaggerating," Reid said, nodding. "They were all fiercely loyal to Father Franklin. None of them had anything bad to say about him. If we were going to get dirt from any of them we would have to be in their inner circle."

Rossi sighed and rubbed his face. "This place has an iron grip over the people who attend the services," he grumbled. "I don't know what possesses people to go to places like this. The families of the victims who were talking to all said the same thing: their girls were addicted to the place. Only four of the families attended with the victims at the Church of the True Disciples and they were all equally fanatic. Their religion is the main part of their lives…they follow blindly."

"We need to get a better idea of the unsubs _way_ of catching –" Hotch began to say.

Before he could keep going with what they needed to do, an officer burst in. "We just found another body," he said. "The Violator…he's struck again."

Cragen cursed. "Alright," he growled. "I want Olivia and Elliot to go with the agents to the crime scene. I need Fin and John to stay here and keep helping Penelope go through the True Disciple material. Is that good with you, Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch nodded. "That sounds good," he said. "Morgan and JJ, I want you with Detective Benson. Reid and Blake, you team up with Detective Stabler. Process the scene. We've got to catch this son of a bitch before he leaves another woman."

XXXXX

_Several Hours Later at 8 o'clock_

Penelope rubbed her face tiredly. Her brain was beginning to hurt trying to figure out what was going on with Derek and Olivia. Was he interested in her? Was she interested in him? It was all becoming too much. Before they'd left to go to the crime scene, she'd witnessed yet another flirtation occurring between the two.

"_Sweetheart, I'm telling you that we're going to have a hell of a time figuring out how this guy is going about getting his victims," Derek growled as they were pulling their jackets on to go out to the crime scene. "This is going to be one hell of a case if we've got seven victims."_

_She clucked her tongue. "Oh, I agree," she said. "This is one of the worst I've seen."_

_Derek hadn't even glanced at Penelope as he'd left._

"How are you hanging in there?" Fin asked, sitting down next to her again. He gave her another cup of coffee. His look was one of concern and he took a thoughtful sip of his own coffee. "You look really tired."

She shook her head. "I'm fine, Fin," she said, although her voice certainly contradicted her statement. "But thanks for asking."

"You know, I really think that he's not –"

Holding up her hand, she met his eyes and with a begging expression murmured, "No. Please, just don't say anything about him."

Fin sighed and said, "He doesn't know what he's missing."

Penelope smiled gratefully at him and returned to trying to find the signal to where the videos were coming from. So far, over ten million people had viewed the unsub's conquests. She hadn't been able to get the website to shut down and had even less luck finding the source of the signal. The situation was becoming increasingly more frustrating. Not to mention it was making her feel even less like the tech goddess that she knew she was. After a few more minutes of typing away, a dinging began and she perked right up.

"What is that?" Munch asked as he came up. "Did someone win the lotto?"

"Better!" Penelope said with a squeal of delight. "I got a hit! We got a hit!"

XXXXX

_Somewhere Secluded – Midnight_

He'd had to kill again in order to satisfy his need for her. The girl he'd picked wasn't an ideal match, but it was the best he could get.

But he needed the one from the television.

He needed her more than anything.

She was the exact match.

She was his one hundred percent.


	7. Having A Chat

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Whew! Sorry the release time on this was so long…I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL! Next one of this little thriller tale is up! Thank you for the reviews and support with it :) I'm having lots of fun with this story…coming up in this chapter: a conversation between Olivia and Derek regarding a certain lady, JJ pondering her feelings for Olivia, and obviously more on our unknown subject! Enjoy!**

The crime scene that both the SVU and BAU arrived at was much different than the last ones they'd seen. It was in a more secluded area where the kill could have been committed on the spot. The M.E. had timed the death at around eleven pm and midnight the previous night. A kid taking a short cut to get home found the body and from there they were called in.

"This is a definite change in the unsub's M.O.," JJ breathed out.

Olivia nodded. "This is much worse," she said.

The scene was indeed worse. Where there had been nothing but a pool of blood around the bodies at the previous six scenes, this scene was covered in blood all over. It covered the walls of the alley, it was splattered on the dumpster. And where the others had been relatively flawless, there was a partial foot print in the blood at this one.

Blake shook her head. "He's devolving," she said. "And by the looks of it, rapidly. This victim was in quicker succession that the others, it's disorganized."

"Do we know if this woman attended the Church of the True Disciples?" Olivia asked, kneeling down to observe the girl's mauled face closer. She couldn't have been more than eighteen years old. Her hair was red, just like the others'; her skin was fair, marred by the dark scarlet blood that had dried from the deep lacerations all over her body.

What was most eerie was the girl looked an awful lot like Penelope. Olivia wondered how Derek would react when he came and got a closer look at the body. She sighed internally. She knew that Penelope thought she and Derek were getting a little friendly with one another. Something had to be done to stop that thinking. In no way was she interested in Derek Morgan in that aspect. It was Penelope's best girlfriend who she wanted.

"Do we know who she is?" JJ asked, leaning down next to her.

She turned her head to look JJ in the eye and shook her head. "No, but from the look of her clothing she's got some money," she said. "I don't understand all these women. They're different professions. Victim number six, Sally Hawkins, was a church-going prostitute; victim number four, Trisha Jones, was a small business owner. How can all these different women go to a place like the Church of the True Disciples? It makes no sense. What could there possibly be drawing them to it like moths to flames?"

JJ shrugged in confusion. "I really don't know," she said. "We're going to have to find out though. That place is like a drug."

Derek was now striding towards them, his sunglasses covering his face. He gazed down at the body and pushed the glasses onto his smooth head. His eyes went wide when he looked at the dead girl on the ground, her red locks covered in dried blood, her curvy body deeply slashed up. He looked like his mouth had dried up and he was in complete shock. It was very clear where his mind had gone.

Gulping, he said, "We've got an ID on the girl. Her wallet was found in her purse over that way. She's Jennifer Stanley, nineteen. I'll have Garcia look more into her…" His voice trailed off as he walked away to call Penelope.

"She looks just like Penelope," JJ said in a small voice. "I hope he'll be okay."

Olivia nodded. "I think he'll be okay," she said. "What he needs to do is talk to Penelope about how he feels."

She was silent while she and JJ stared at each other. Maybe she should tell JJ about the fluttering she caused in her stomach whenever her jasmine smelling self rolled on by.

On second thought, maybe not.

They were standing by a dead body, after all.

XXXXX

Olivia plopped down in the car's passenger seat next to Derek. They were on their way back to check out the Church of the True Disciples to question the "good" Father more on the girls who'd been murdered. But Olivia also had an ulterior motive.

As the two pulled away from the curb, she decided to jump right in.

"Derek, I'm a fairly blunt person and I'm not going to spare you of it," she said straight out.

He chuckled. "Okay," he said. "So what've you got to tell me? I'm curious."

"You need to tell Penelope how you feel," she stated. "You love her. I don't know how you can't tell she's in love with you too, but she very clearly is. Whenever you say her name, you literally light up. You say her name with love…I mean, 'Baby Girl'? You don't call someone that if you don't have strong feelings for them."

His face went pale almost immediately. Swiftly he shook his head. He knew Penelope didn't love him. Months after she'd broken up with Kevin, she'd called the dweeb to try and rekindle their relationship. He'd ended up treating her like garbage and very unlike the beautiful deserving woman she was. But what stung the most was that she'd called _Lynch_ to have romance. He wished with all his heart that he could've been the one to make love to her that night. He would've poured out his whole heart and soul into their lovemaking. But he was just the guy who was the shoulder to cry on.

Yes…she didn't love him at all.

"Olivia, I appreciate you trying to give me relationship advice – 'cause let's face it, I need it – but Penelope…she doesn't love me in that way. She never has."

Snorting, she stared at him incredulously. "Are you freakin' kidding me? Have you seen the way that girl looks at you? Wait, scratch that…have you seen the way she looks at _me_? She looks like she wants to claw my eyes out because I've been working with you and calling you 'sweetheart' and other names like that."

Derek looked at her oddly. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Like, do you really mean that she looks at me that way?" Hope had lit up his eyes and a small smile was on his face.

She nodded. "I am dead serious," she told him confidently. "You are shockingly not perceptive when it comes to women, you know that?"

A crooked grin covered his face and he said, "Yes. I am. But at least I'm a damn good lay."

"Awfully sure of yourself there, aren't you?" she laughed.

He snorted. "I'm positive of my statement, as cocky as it sounds."

Olivia shook her head and laughed. "But seriously, I think you need to have a nice long chat with her," she said. "You're just a damn coward if you don't say anything to her. It's something you just have to do. You can't ignore something like that, especially with the job you have. You need some light in your life and something tells me that Penelope is that light you need."

For a moment Derek pondered Olivia's words of advice. Just the look on his face told her that he was thinking over them. Then his face turned more serious and work-oriented. "I'll figure this out at some point," he said quietly. "Right now we just need to solve this case."

Olivia felt truly sorry for him. But then again, she was no better. She couldn't seem to figure out her feelings for a woman she hardly knew. So instead of pushing the subject of Penelope with Derek, she sat back to prepare for the meeting with the Church.

XXXXX

JJ rubbed her face and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She'd needed to clear her head and splash water on her face. It was partly the case, partly the separation from Henry, partly the insane attraction she felt for Detective Benson.

It wasn't just her personality either. JJ couldn't seem to stop her mouth from watering whenever she laid eyes on the woman. And if she walked by her or got too close to her, the scent of something spicy and cinnamon would fill her nose and keep her brain cloudy for a good hour before she could think straight again.

She figured she should probably talk to someone, say, Penelope, but she was so wrapped up in her own drama with Morgan that she was nothing but snappy with everyone with the exception of Detectives Fin and Munch.

Sighing, JJ exited the bathroom of the SVU precinct and tried to center her brain around the case.


	8. Olivia Benson: One Cool Lady

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Thanks for your patience with me and how slow this is coming out. Since this one is a case fic, I've been taking extra precautions with the plot. Here's chapter 8 of this…thanks for the reviews! I hope you will like it more as our unsub devolves :) Oh, and the romance too. Always gotta have some romance ;)**

_SVU Precinct_

"Sir, I found a signal!" Penelope cried triumphantly, hurrying towards Captain Cragen's office where Hotch was. "Well, it's only a rough estimate, triangulation of where the signal is coming from, but it's a good five to seven mile radius of the Church!"

Hotch and Cragen looked up at her rapidly breathing figure and blinked twice. "Excellent work, Garcia," he said, rising immediately. "Send the coordinates to our tablets. We'll have to figure out what buildings hold what. I highly doubt the city is going to want us barging in without eliminating the obvious first."

"I'll have a call put in to get the manpower and permission," Cragen said, picking up his phone. "They should let us in by tomorrow. If not, I've got our A.D.A, Casey Novak who'll get us in no matter what they say."

Nodding, Hotch said, "Excellent. I'm going to call the others and give them the lo down."

Penelope followed her boss out of the office and back through the precinct. "Do you have more you want me to look into, sir?" she asked. "I still have more looking into on our most recent victim, but so far she's clean. Her financials are exactly like the other women's…too much spent on their religion."

Hotch halted for a moment and looked thoughtful about her request. "The Matthewson Sanitarium," he stated. "I want to know everything about them. Look for any red flags and how they might be attached to Franklin. If they're going to such great lengths to keep his presence there a secret, there must be something shady going on up there."

Jotting everything down on her pad of paper, she nodded. "Alright then, sir," she said, clicking her fluffy top pen closed. "I'll get right on it right away."

Penelope started back to her workstation and started to work immediately on the tasks Hotch had given her. The Matthewson Sanitarium's website didn't seem to give off any fireworks that there would be anything wrong with their facility. But if it were easy, they probably wouldn't be in Manhattan helping with the case. So Penelope began her best duty and went to work hacking into their system.

None of their patients were sticking out to her, so she didn't make any notes, but she made sure to keep her eyes wide open on every little movement of the staff and doctors. They had more of a likelihood of knowing something about Franklin's movements than the residents of the hospital.

She looked for possible familial relationships, Church patrons, or anything else suspicious. There was nothing. Zip. Zilch. The whole search was turning up fruitless.

From next to her computer on the desk, her phone started to vibrate and the tone of "I'm Too Sexy" rang out. It was Derek. She blew out a sigh. She just needed to get over her insecurities and forget about it. So what if he wanted to sleep with the overly beautiful Olivia Benson? It was just like him to sleep with most gorgeous woman around. Giving up would be the simplest option for her.

She didn't care what Fin told her; it simply wasn't going to happen between her and Derek.

Sighing heavily, she took another sip of her now lukewarm coffee before continuing on her journey through the cyberspace channels of Matthewson Sanitarium.

XXXXX

_The Church of the True Disciples_

Derek and Olivia went inside the Church of the True Disciples without even sparing a second glance at the perky assistant who'd greeted them the first time they'd come to see Father Franklin.

"You can't just come in here out of nowhere," she huffed, hastily tailing after them as they strode towards Franklin's office. "Father Franklin is a very busy man and doesn't have time for –"

"Lady, we've got no time for your bragging about the good Father's holiness," Derek growled. "Another girl from this church was just killed and we need to have a longer chat with him with no meetings interrupting us." He arched his eyebrows in an angry expression. He wasn't going to say anything about this, but all the victims had red hair and were curvy like Penelope. This last one though…she had been almost a fifteen year younger dead ringer for his Baby Girl. There was a high possibility she could be in danger.

He wasn't playing around anymore.

The girl scowled at him and put herself between the door and Derek and Olivia. "I don't know who you think you are, but –"

"Let us in," Olivia said firmly. "We're getting in one way or another."

Huffing again, she looked at her watch and grumbled, "He'll be in his office in ten minutes. You can wait in his office until he returns." Then she stomped off in the direction of her desk and returned to her duties.

As they sat down inside of Franklin's office, Olivia glanced at Derek's tense face and body language. "Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

Clenching his jaw, he muttered, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," she shot back. But Olivia had a hunch of what was wrong. "That girl did look an awful like Penelope. There's a good reason for you to feel on edge."

His head snapped up. "We're not going to talk about this," he snapped. "Especially in this douchebag's office."

"Derek –"

"Or maybe we should discuss your obvious attraction to JJ," he said. Noticing her obvious discomfort at the statement, he bent his head and rubbed his face. "That was uncalled for…sorry. You're right about it. That girl hit a little close to home for me. She looked absolutely like a younger Penelope."

Olivia nodded. "It's okay," she said sympathetically. "It takes more than a little bit of snappish commenting to really get to me." She gave him a crooked smile. "No problem."

"You're awfully understanding and I just don't know why I snap at you," he said with a wink.

"Sweet cheeks," Olivia said, "it's all good."

He laughed a little bit and shook his head. "You're one cool lady, Olivia Benson," he said.

She laughed. "I suppose so," she said.

XXXXX

_SVU Precinct-Several Hours Later_

"So he's devolving rapidly, but there could be several reasons," JJ said. She was sitting with Penelope, Fin, Hotch, and Munch and they were working on the profile. It was ten o'clock at night and they were all exhausted from lack of sleep. "He knows we're here and working the case, he's getting closer to finding his true victim – the woman of his affection, he's losing control."

"Could it be a combination of the three?" Fin asked.

Hotch seemed to think about it for a moment and then nodded. "Detective Tutuola, you might be on to something," he said. "We should definitely consider it a possibility. This unsub is getting off on his torture and he likely wants us to know about it."

"These killings are getting worse by the victim," Munch said. "The last woman was more severely raped and mutilated than the other six combined."

JJ agreed. "Do we think he's going to have another victim in a certain time period?" she asked curiously. She turned to the two SVU detectives to add, "What was the length of time between the kills before we got here?"

"About two weeks between each other," Munch explained.

"So whatever triggered this happened three months," Hotch concluded. "It's looking like a woman who left him and all his resentment is being targeted at women who resemble her. And the amount of overkill suggests whatever happened between them was horrendous enough to cause this."

"Maybe it wasn't that big of a break up," JJ suggested. "He could be delusional and imagining that it wasn't just a regular breakup."

Penelope was the one to shake her head this time. "Based on what he's vlogged, I don't think that would be right," she said. But biting her lip, she added, "However, I'm not a profiler."

Hotch shook his head. "I'd have to agree with you, Garcia," he said. "There's a lot of anger behind what he was saying. Has the one from the most recent kills been put up?"

She nodded. "It just got posted now actually," she said with raised eyebrows. She turned her laptop around so they could all see. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the "play" button and the deep sound of the unsub's voice filled their ears.

"Her screams were absolutely shrill," he growled. "It's a miracle no one at all heard my work." The video continued on for another four minutes before it began to wrap up. "And for the FBI who is here in town investigating these crimes, know that I am watching you and your every move. Tread carefully or you may just find yourselves in a whole world of hurt." Without another word the screen flashed to black and the video ended, leaving them all in silence.

Sighing, Hotch rubbed his face. "We all need a few hours of sleep," he said. "We'll be back here at seven. I suggest you all get a few hours of sleep."

**Coming up next time is Derek and Olivia's conversation with Father Franklin, more JJ/Olivia, and a brief misunderstanding for Penelope.**


	9. Giving The Profile

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Next one of the crossover! Hope you don't mind these take a little longer to come out…it's a bit more to work on than my other fics just because I'm creating a case. That's harder than it looks! Hope you guys enjoy and thank you for the reviews!**

**In this chapter we have Derek and Olivia's conversation with Franklin, a brief misunderstanding for Penelope, and a little more JJ/Olivia. And the profile. I apologize for it in advance if it's not very good. I admire the work done on the show, but I myself am not quite good enough to do that :( Maybe someday…However, I hope you can follow it alright.**

**Oh, and on another quick note, both Shemar Moore and Kirsten Vangsness are working on movie projects, Kirsten on Kickstarter and Shemar on Indiegogo. Support their films! Even a single dollar can help!**

_The Previous Day – The Church Of The True Disciples_

"Ah, Agent Morgan…Detective Benson," Father Franklin said as he reentered his office. Smiling thinly, he added, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Yet another girl from your church has been found murdered and brutally raped," Derek stormed, rising to his feet and glaring at the pastor. "Did you know anything about _this_ girl?" He held up a picture of the battered and mutilated girl for the other man to see. Franklin flinched visibly at the picture and Derek continued. "Well! Did you?" His face was black with fury.

Franklin's face formed a hard line. "As a matter of fact, I did," he said hardly. "This is Jennifer Stanley. She was in a personal Bible group of mine. I know her quite well."

Olivia rose as well and put her hand on Derek's shoulder to calm him down. Apparently he was taking the looks of this most recent victim a little too close to heart. "Let's all sit down and continue this talk without being hostile."

Derek clenched his jaw, but did as Olivia suggested.

Franklin did the same as them both and sat down in an arm chair. "What else could I possibly tell you that would be of value?" he asked.

"You could tell us why women in your church are being viciously attacked," Derek growled.

Olivia shot him a look and turned back to Franklin. "We noticed the women have all donated massive amounts of money to your organization," she said. "We know you've told us that they all believe in the teachings you give, but what do you spend this money on?"

"We spend the money our worshippers donate on charitable organizations that support the values we hold," Franklin said defiantly. "Organizations that work towards keeping the Earth clean of sin."

Derek smirked. "You don't spend any of it on the extravagant trappings of your office?"

Franklin's lips turned tight again.

"Listen, Father Franklin," Olivia cut in, "we need to know a few other things. We discovered that up until a few years ago you were visiting Matthewson Sanitarium monthly. The people up there wouldn't divulge any reason as to why you were up there and it's clear judging by the financials our tech analyst uncovered you're not spending any money at pharmacies on medication. So, why were you up at that place? Holding hands and singing Kum Bay Yuh?"

His eyes flashed and he stared hardly at Derek. Almost immediately he knew something wasn't right with the way he looked. Derek was positive.

Franklin knew something.

"I was up at that Sanitarium because I was doing the Lord's work," he answered simply. Then he clamped his mouth shut.

"What kind of Lord's work?" Derek grunted. When Franklin didn't answer quickly enough, he demanded loudly, "Answer me!"

Franklin flinched. "I performed healing rituals," he told him. "I preached. I told the inmates of the Lord's powers and his ability to forgive their sins." He paused to grin widely. "It was good work. It helped a lot of people."

"So why did the good work stop so suddenly?" Olivia asked with a cock of her eyebrow. "You quit going…any particular reason."

There was a long interval between his next bout of speech. "My work was done," he mumbled out reluctantly. "They no longer needed me and my work here in the city needed me more. Simple as that."

"Why does something tell me this particular reason isn't so simple?" Derek asked sarcastically. "What kind of work in the city drew you back? Hating on anyone you deemed a sinner?"

"Just spreading the word the Lord wanted the world to hear," he stated.

Olivia rubbed her temple. "Listen, Father Franklin," she said harshly. "You need to tell us why you were up there. We'll find out why one way or another. So I suggest you tell us."

"I already told you," Franklin argued. "How many times do you want me to tell the same thing to you over and over?"

"Until you tell the true version," Derek growled. His voice had become more dangerous and there was a fire burning in his eyes. Olivia was worried he might actually say something stupid. "We know that _you_ know something. These women were all attendees of your church. It's obvious this place is our unsub's hunting ground. Now you can help us, or we can do this the hard way. Which is it?"

Franklin glared at him. "I am telling you the truth, Agent Morgan," he said gruffly. "Whether you choose to believe it or not…well, that's between you and God."

XXXXX

_Present – SVU Precinct_

Olivia and Derek were working together at her desk when JJ brought up two cups of coffee. She set one down on the desk and slid it over to Olivia. "Here you go, Olivia," she said. "You looked like you could use a refill. Sorry Derek. There was only enough left in the pot for one more cup." She smiled down at her, completely ignoring Morgan's perplexed smirk.

Both women made eye contact with each other and Derek took that as an unspoken cue to get up and leave. He couldn't keep a grin off of his face. Rising to his feet, he started in the direction of Penelope, not bothering to look back.

JJ gestured to the seat that had just been vacated and asked, "May I sit? I might be able to help you with what you're doing."

Coughing, Olivia said, "Er, yes. Feel free. We're going through victimology. Derek says you guys are ready to give the profile soon."

"That's right," JJ said, sipping her cup of coffee. "We should be able to give it within the hour."

Olivia opened her mouth to say more, but Hotch – ever the man of perfect timing – came over and motioned for JJ to come forward. "JJ," he said, "we're ready to give the profile."

Sharing another look with Olivia, JJ got up. Although her steps were shaky this time and her stomach was fluttering. She was dying to know why this woman was affecting her in this way. It was completely random. Just a cop on a case. But then when she thought about it, it made some sense. Will had been just that: just a cop on a case.

This was definitely a diagnosis her therapist hadn't come up with.

She made her way to the area in front of where all the cops had gathered to hear the profile be delivered to them. But even as she leaned against the wall, her eyes met Olivia's and held her gaze. She couldn't help it; her piercing eyes were magnetic.

"Let's get started with this right away," Cragen said. "Everyone listen carefully, take notes, all the usual things."

Hotch nodded. "Thank you, Captain," he said. There was little time for formality. He was jumping right in. "The killer we're looking for whom the press has named 'The Violator' is an extremely sadistic killer who takes pleasure in the kills he commits."

"Based on the amount of overkill this unsub exhibits we believe these women are surrogates for one specific woman who he may have had a falling out with. Based on what his videos are telling us, we've come to the conclusion that it was either a woman he'd been in a relationship with or a woman who spurned his advances."

"What would make you say that?" one of the cops asked.

Morgan answered. "In his videos he always refers to the women very personally and as if he's had history with them. He's extremely derogatory and shows that there's no woman who's safe from him that looks like his victims."

The cop's brow furrowed. "And that makes you assume he's in love with her?" he asked skeptically.

"Another indicator is the sprinkling of love quotes he drops into his videos," Reid added in. "He uses them as bookends and in some way they all relate to the woman he's killed."

"These women are all a certain type: pretty, red-headed, fair skin," Morgan said. His voice was gruff and he couldn't stop his eyes from flicking to Penelope. Their eyes met and he had to rub his face to break his connection with her.

Blake nodded. "The victims are all women who attend a mega church by the name of the Church of the True Disciples which makes us believe this place is his hunting ground, the place where he finds his victims."

Stabler raised a hand in the air. "Why is he documenting his…experiences?" he asked.

Reid took on answering this. "This is a way for him to gloat about his exploits," he said. "It's his way of keeping a diary. And a way of contacting us. Like for example, his time between kills got shorter after we arrived and he specifically contacted us after victim number seven."

Hotch nodded to the rest of the room. "Thank you," he said. "We've got work to do, so I suggest we get to it."

The group dispersed and everyone went back to what they'd been doing before the profile had been delivered. Olivia had gone back to her desk and JJ was drawn to follow her. "So that's how you give a profile?" she asked JJ as they both sat down at her desk. "You guys seem like you've done it a million times."

"Unfortunately we have," JJ murmured. "Not quite a million, but a lot."

Olivia looked at her head on and tilted her head to the side. It was as if she were studying JJ. It was like she was looking straight through her and she was reading every little inch of her insecurities. Feeling so exposed, JJ started to fidget with both discomfort and an anxious feeling to impress her. For all she knew Olivia was reading her as a dimwit. "I don't know how we can do these jobs. Sex crimes, serial killers…it just gets to be too much sometimes."

"How do you continue to do it then? Do you ever think about quitting?" JJ asked softly, her voice almost inaudible.

It took a moment for Olivia to answer, but not because she was pondering the question. She was just examining JJ again. When she finally did answer, it was an answer of confidence. "I keep doing this job because someone has to stand up for the victims and give them justice. It sucks, but we've got to do something."

JJ smiled. "That's _exactly_ why we should do this," she murmured.

At that moment, she knew there was something very special about Olivia and that she might never get the feel of her eyes to wash off.

But the more she thought about it, the more she didn't mind it.

XXXXX

_The BAU's Hotel – Elevator – Later In The Evening_

Penelope was standing in the elevator alone at eleven o'clock in the evening wringing her hands together nervously. Hotch had given them the night to go rest up because at eight in the morning the team and the police force had permission from a judge to scour the area that the signal of the unsub's video feeds had come from. Currently Penelope was on her way down to the hotel's lounge where she was going to meet Derek for a "chat."

Earlier at the precinct the two of them had a conversation after the profile had been delivered.

_"Baby, are you okay?"_

_Penelope looked up from her computers and cursed; Derek had finally cornered her when she was alone. He was going to try and get something out of her. She could see the look in his eyes when he was about to get something out of her. Grimacing, she nodded. Might as well try and lie first and see if he would buy it._

_"Yeah," she managed to get out. "I'm peachy, angelfish."_

_Sure enough, he saw right through it. "Bull," he said, pulling out the chair that Fin had been occupying and plopped right down in it. Tweaking her nose, he murmured, "C'mon sweet thing. Spill."_

_She raised a brow at him. What was she supposed to say? That she was jealous of all the time he was spending with Superwoman Olivia Benson? Which was unfair, not really to Derek, but to Olivia. Olivia was really wonderful. She shouldn't be giving her sarcastic nicknames. "Handsome," she said, deciding to go with it and use his nickname, "why don't we talk later? Now really isn't the time."_

_His eyes brightened. "Hotch is giving us the night off to rest up before the search tomorrow," he said. "Why don't we talk in the lounge?"_

_His voice was so filled with hope she didn't feel like she could deny him. Nodding, she smiled and said, "Okay, sure."_

The elevator doors opened with a ding when she reached the ground level of the hotel. Strolling out, she walked with unsteady legs to the lounge where she ordered a drink. The entire time she was thinking about what she was going to say to Derek. She'd probably have to play it off like it was just a silly thought in her head about him and Olivia. She'd have to make it seem just like when she was warning him about Tamara Barnes, only instead of a victim's sister Olivia was a coworker. Of course she couldn't say anything about how she really felt. _That_ would just make him laugh. He'd kiss the top of her head and then tell her all about how he planned to date Olivia around the rules.

As she sipped her drink, she glanced nervously around the dim lounge for any sign of her best friend. Next she checked her watch. She couldn't believe how badly she was fidgeting. It was terrible. What the hell was he going to think when he saw her?

Ten minutes later though, she finally caught sight of him coming into the hotel from the main doors. Next to his laughing form was Olivia Benson. A sting of jealousy ran up her spine, but she dismissed it. Derek was going to be coming to the lounge to meet _her_. Not have a drink with Olivia.

Just when she thought her heart couldn't take any more of the strain, he put his arm around Benson's shoulders and the two of them continued on towards the elevators, laughing the entire time.

Her heart broke into a million shards. Shattered. Exploded. Tears burned in the back of her eyes and she forced herself to finish the last swallow of her drink. Without a word, she slid a few dollar bills to the bartender and rose from her barstool. So Derek had forgotten about her. It was fairly obvious why. He had a much more important evening planned with Olivia. Rubbing the tears from her eyes, Penelope felt the sudden urge to go for a long walk.

So instead of making her way to the elevators to return to her room, she hurried out into the streets and let her feet guide her rather than her brain.

XXXXX

"Thanks for coming up with me," Derek said, grinning at Olivia as he showed her two different shirts he'd brought with him. "I'm glad I could get a woman's opinion on this."

"Definitely go with the dark blue one," Olivia instructed, sipping a cup of coffee Derek had just offered her. "Something tells me she'll like the blue one."

"Penelope's always said she thought blue was my color," he said thoughtfully, throwing off his t-shirt he'd been wearing during the day and buttoning up the other one. "You know, I don't know what's bothering her, but I feel like I just need to get this off my chest. I think I'm going to tell her how I feel."

Olivia nodded in agreement. "Do it," she said. "I'd rather she not hate my guts." She snorted a laugh.

Derek shot her a look. "Penelope doesn't hate your guts," he argued.

"Well she won't after she finds out I have no intention of sleeping with you!"

Finishing the last button he wanted done up on his shirt, Derek gave himself a once over in the mirror and turned back to look at Olivia. He gave her a million watt grin. "How do I look?"

"Snazzy," she responded with a smirk.

"Ya think?"

She nodded firmly. "I know," she said. "Now go get the girl, Morgan."

With one last broad grin in her direction, Derek started swiftly for the door. "Thanks for the help again, Liv!" he called on the way out.


	10. Misunderstandings

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Next update in the crossover!**

**I know some of you guys are concerned the unsub is going to snatch Penelope after she exited the hotel, but she's going to be safe…for now. So, sit back and relax for now :) Nothing really JJ/Olivia or case related in this chapter. Thanks for the reviews and let's get this show on the road!**

Derek made his way nervously towards the hotel lounge and bar where he was ready to meet up with his Penelope. _His_. He intended on telling her every ounce of feeling in him and make her realize the two of them belonged together. He was tired of seeing her want Kevin back. He would make her see where the two of them truly belonged: together.

When he made it to the dim lounge where a few people were mingling, he looked around desperately for Penelope, but she was nowhere to be found. He frowned. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was now 11:30. He realized he was late, but once he told her it was in the name of anxiety, he figured she'd forgive him. It seemed odd that she wasn't already there. Going to the bar, he flagged down the bartender. "Hey man," he said. "Have you by any chance seen a red-head come in here?"

"Oh, yeah," the bartender said as he shook a martini shaker. "Pretty lady." He noticed the glare Derek had just shot him and laughed. "Relax buddy. I've got a girlfriend. No, I did see her come in. She ordered a glass of Shiraz."

"Well, where did she go?" Derek asked impatiently, not particularly interested in what his Baby Girl had had to drink.

He jerked his thumb in the direction of the door to the street. "She left rather abruptly. She looked really upset."

Derek was bewildered. What the hell had gone wrong? He decided to interrogate the bartender to find out more on the disappearance of his girl. "Did someone upset her or harass her?"

The bartender tilted an eyebrow up. "Man, do I look like I would let someone do that?" he asked incredulously.

Rubbing his forehead, Derek said, "Sorry man, I'm just worried. I've got to go find her."

And then he started off in the direction of the hotel doors, trying to figure out where to look for Penelope.

It didn't take him very long.

Only a hundred feet away on a bench sat his Baby Girl. And she wasn't alone. She was leaning her head against the shoulder of a man who looked remarkably like Fin Tutuola. Feeling his gut drop, Derek stood and stared for a moment, pondering between beating the shit out of Fin, or retreating back into the hotel.

In the end, he decided on returning to the lounge to down a drink.

XXXXX

Penelope wondered around in front of the building for a few minutes before taking a walk around the block. In the end she was back in front of hotel, sitting down on a bench. Tears were sliding down her cheeks and her brain was racing. Her best friend, the man who'd sworn that she was always going to come before any of the women he had a date with, had forgotten her to sleep with someone. It hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt. Not just because he'd forgotten, but because she was so irrevocably in love with him. Watching him sleep with half of Quantico and now a beautiful New York City detective pierced her heart with an arrow-like pain.

"Penelope?"

Looking up, she saw Fin Tutuola walking in her direction. She furrowed her brow. "Fin," she said, wiping her eyes hurriedly. She wished she could have fixed her scraggly voice, but it couldn't be helped. "What are you doing over here?"

"I was on my way to meet a friend of mine at the bar two blocks that way," he explained, pointing down the sidewalk in the direction he was headed. He went to sit down next to her on the bench and studied her face. "You want to talk about whatever is making you upset?" he asked gently after a few moments of silence.

Laughing through her tears, she said, "I'm just a frickin' idiot. I don't know how I let myself fall into the same situation every single time." She sniffled.

"You know, I don't think you're an idiot," Fin said. "I think you're just caught up in a situation that neither of you know how to express yourselves in." It was clear he knew exactly who she was talking about. "I would recommend the two of you talking."

"See, that's how this evening was supposed to go," she explained. "But he –" She decided not to mention the woman he'd brought with him was Olivia. It would just make for an extremely awkward situation for Fin. " – brought a girl back. He forgot about me."

Fin smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. "Nah," he said optimistically. "I bet that girl didn't mean anything to him and that they were just talking."

"Pfft," she snorted. "You didn't see him. That was most definitely not the behavior Derek would exhibit with a girl he wasn't going to sleep with. I know my best friend. I know that look in his eye when he's about to…" She couldn't say it.

Sighing, Fin murmured, "It will be okay." He paused. "You know how I know that? 'Cause that guy loves you. He may not be able to say it yet, but he does."

This time Penelope sighed and leaned her head against Fin's shoulder. "I think I'm done for the night," she murmured.

XXXXX

Olivia arrived at the precinct to get ready to start the search of the area where Penelope had discovered the signal of the unsub's videos. She had a cup of coffee in her hand and met up with Elliot when she got to her desk.

"Morning Liv," he said with a yawn. "You ready for this search?"

She nodded. "I just hope we can catch this son of a bitch," she muttered. "You should have seen Derek's reaction to Jennifer Stanley's body…she looked just like Penelope. He ripped Franklin to pieces when we paid him a visit."

Elliot raised a brow at his partner. "You and Agent Morgan seem to be getting awfully friendly," he said. "What're you doing, helping him get the girl who so obviously loves him back?" He smirked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Something of the sort," she muttered. "I did help him pick out a shirt to talk to her in last night. I have yet to hear how that conversation went."

"So what's the deal? You help him get his girl and he helps you get Agent Jareau?" His face had turned serious. Olivia was about to protest, but he laughed to interrupt her. "Seriously, you really think I wouldn't be able to tell?"

She was about to respond, but they were joined by Casey Novak. "Hey, you two," she said. "Make sure you conduct this by the book. And keep an eye on the team of FBI."

Olivia shook her head in confusion. "What?" she asked. "Why are we doing that?"

"I made a few calls," Casey clarified. "They have a tendency to get into some cases and break the rules. There have been several questionable incidents that could have gone wrong. And with this case we can't afford that. Just make sure they follow the warrant to a T." As she was finishing, Cragen was coming towards them with Hotch and Morgan. When they reached them, Olivia noticed that Derek looked absolutely miserable.

Something must have gone wrong with Penelope last night.

"Casey, this is Agent Aaron Hotchner, the BAU's unit chief and Agent Derek Morgan," Cragen said. "Agents, meet Casey Novak, our A.D.A."

Casey and Hotch shook hands while Derek merely nodded to her. "Nice to meet you," Hotch said. "We're ready to go as soon as the rest of the teams arrive," he said.

"Excellent," Casey said. "Agent, I hope you realize how important this is. Please play it by the book. This search is possibly our biggest lead in this case."

Derek fixed the prosecutor with a hard look and said, "We know exactly how to operate a warranted search, Ms. Novak. You have nothing to worry about."

There was an edge to his voice and Olivia was positive something had gone wrong.

"Good," Casey returned, her voice even with Derek's.

Hotch glanced at his watch. "We need to get ready to go now," he said. "Let's get moving."

As they started to separate to get ready for the impending search, Olivia went up to Derek's side. "Hey," she said. "You look mopey. What's going on? Did the conversation not go well for you guys?"

With a glare on his face, Derek was getting his bulletproof vest on and growled, "I never got to talk to her. She left the bar and I found her outside…your buddy Fin was there too."

Olivia arched a brow. "Fin was there?" That made little sense to her. "Were they –"

Derek shot her a look and snapped, "No! They were just sitting on a bench, but –" He stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of Penelope coming into the precinct. "Olivia, I'll talk to you later," he said. "I've got something to do before we get on the road."

Somehow as she watched Derek walk towards Penelope with anger in his stride, she had a strange feeling that a downward spiral was about to begin.

XXXXX

"So, you just decided to get up and leave instead of waiting for me last night?"

Penelope looked up from her laptop and found a furious Derek standing in the doorway, his bulletproof vest already covering his body and an earpiece hooked up to his ear. She met his gaze with equal frostiness and snapped, "Hello to you too, Morgan."

Slamming the door shut behind himself, he did something she wouldn't have expected. He began to yell at her. "What the hell, Penelope! You just decided to completely bail on me? I looked for you for…" His voice paused, as if he were changing the story he was about to tell. Of course he had something to hide. He'd slept with another woman before apparently coming down to look for her. "You told me you would meet with me!"

Turning up the snark in her tone, she said coolly, "What's the big deal? It was just a conversation that we missed, it's not like we had anything important to discuss."

"Bullshit!" he thundered, his face darkening with rage. "And what was with running off? You know this unsub targets women who look just like you! It's not safe for you to be out on the streets!"

"Oh, please!" she laughed sarcastically. "I don't go to that fucking church. I'm nowhere _near_ his hunting ground."

Derek pounded a fist down on the table. "Why didn't you meet me?" he hollered. There was pure, unadulterated anger written all over his face. His body language was very much that of a furious man ready for a vicious battle. "Was it because you were meeting fucking Tutuola? Hmm? Is that why?"

Now it was Penelope's turn to display her fury. She leapt to her feet and pointed an accusatory finger at him before screeching, "You have some nerve, Derek Morgan! I waited in that bar for you to get to that lounge and when you do finally show up in the hotel you brought a booty call with you!" There were tears swimming on the surface of her eyes that she refused to let fall. "So if anything, _you_ were the one who forgot about us meeting up…at least until you were all finished up fucking Detective Benson!" She paused before adding, "And for your information, Fin found me on the bench. So instead of having a conversation with _you_ I talked with him. He was there for me while you were up fucking the night away!"

His face hardened. "I did not, I repeat, _did not_ sleep with Olivia that night," he growled dangerously. "Why would you think that?"

"I saw you two, Derek!" she cried. "The reason I left was because it was fairly clear what you had in store for the night. Booty call, then conversation with dead weight Garcia."

"I didn't sleep with anyone last night!" he yelled. Rubbing his face, he muttered, "The reason Olivia was there was because she was –" His voice broke off. He wasn't going to tell her he'd needed Olivia for fashion advice; his pride wouldn't let him. "She was helping me with something."

"Helping you with what?" she asked, her hands on her hips. A few tears had started trickling down her cheeks.

Before Derek could respond, Hotch thrust the door open to the room and said in his dangerously calm voice, "You two had better stop this behavior right now. You're making idiots of yourselves." Penelope wiped her eyes and Derek's jaw clenched. "Morgan, we're moving out now for the search. Garcia, be on standby for if we need you. Expect your calls for JJ or Reid because the two of you won't be speaking for the rest of the day unless you can do so civilly."

Derek grunted and stormed out of the room, not even looking at Penelope as he left. Hotch looked over at her and cocked an eyebrow at the tears in her eyes. "Are you going to be able to handle this right now, Garcia?" he asked gently. "If you can't, we'll call in another tech and then –"

"I've got this, Hotch," she said harshly. "Call me with your orders." Then she sat herself back down and recomposed herself, trying to pretend that nothing happened.


	11. His New Target

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Here's the next crossover installment! Hope you enjoy :) Thank you for the reviews! Coming up we have the search of the area where the signal came from and finally more JJ/Olivia :)**

"Clear!"

Derek kicked the door down to the first building he and Olivia were assigned to searching. They went in, their guns raised and poised to shoot if necessary. The building they'd been assigned to was an abandoned factory building. His adrenaline was rushing through his body, both from hopping to catch the unsub or at the very least a clue, and his anger towards Penelope. He needed to get a break in the case. It seemed like the only thing that would put him in a better mood.

"Anything in there?" Olivia called out.

"I've got nothing," he said angrily. They continued their search of the floor and found nothing. He kicked an empty cardboard box in frustration. "If this is the building he was in then there's nothing around right now."

"Then we'd better get to work on the other floors," she said.

For the next few hours, they searched the twenty floors of the building, finding absolutely nothing. They reached the roof after they'd finished the search and it was bright and sunny outside. Derek was at the edge of the building, hands on the side of the wall. He looked out over the side and stared at the city for a moment, feeling more frustrated than ever.

Olivia came up next to him and said, "Hey...you going to be okay?"

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his face. "Yeah, I'm fine," he grunted. "Have we heard anything from the others yet?"

She shook her head, but as she did, Derek's cell phone rang. Taking it from his pocket, he muttered, "Yeah?"

"Morgan, we need you and Benson next door," Reid said frantically. "We've found something you might want to see."

Both Derek and Olivia took off to get to the bottom floor of the decrepit building and met Reid and Stabler outside the building that was next door. "What's so urgent that you needed us at your building?" Derek asked snippily.

Reid couldn't quite find his words, so Stabler chose to speak for him. "There was a..." Even he didn't know if he could say it. He scratched behind his ear.

"What is it?" Olivia asked with concern.

Stabler coughed uncomfortably. "We -"

"What is it?" Derek asked through gritted teeth. When no one answered him, he hissed, "You don't want to tell me? Fine. I'll go find out for myself." He was on edge as it was. He didn't need people keeping secrets from him.

"Morgan!" Reid said, trying to stop him. "Morgan, please. You don't want to do that!"

But Derek was already bursting into the building. Immediately he took a step inside and what he saw made his gut drop. The room he'd entered into held one thing and one thing only: a single picture. The picture was obviously a freeze frame that someone ha paused a video on and it was a photo of a person. It was a redheaded woman with delicate lily white skin and flaming red hair. Derek knew exactly where and when the picture was taken. It was taken the day the BAU had arrived in New York and it was outside the SVU precinct.

And the woman in the photograph, in every photograph that covered the walls of the room, was Penelope.

XXXXX

JJ had heard the news about what Reid and Stabler had discovered and went to the building as soon as the search with the building she was in was finished. She reached the place and the moment she got inside she heard the yells of Derek Morgan.

"We have to call the precinct and and tell her to stay put!" Derek roared.

"Morgan, you have to calm down," Hotch said roughly. "This isn't going to help her, acting like this."

Derek glared at him and stepped closer than one would to his superior. "We have to warn her to stay off the streets!" he shouted. Every officer was silent, staring at the scene unfolding in front of them. "We have to keep her safe!"

"And we will," Hotch assured him. "But right now we have to finish this search. We have to finish it and we can keep her safe. Until then, you will -"

"Dammit Hotch!" Derek's fist slammed down on a rickety table. "I'm not going to sit by and let you ignore the fact tat a killer out there is obsessing over Penelope!"

"Morgan, I'm not ignoring that fact," Hotch said calmly. "Right now you need to go and take a minute to calm down."

With anger covering his face, Derek stormed off to return outside. JJ looked after him and sighed. "That wasn't handled entirely well," Olivia said, coming up beside her.

"Agreed," JJ said. "We're going to have a hell of a time calming him down."

Hotch came to stand in front of them and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, we've got a change of plans, seeing as Morgan is incapacitated, in a manner of speaking," he said. "JJ, you're going to team up with Detective Benson until Morgan comes back down from his anger high."

"Sir, what should we be doing about Garcia?" JJ asked. She, like Derek, was concerned. There was a possibility that the unsub could try and take her. "If he's had his sight on her since we got here, there's -"

Hotch held his hand up. "I've already called Captain Cragen to inform him that he needs to keep her inside," he said. "I need you to focus right now. Now that we've found his place where he films the videos, we can call off the search on the other buildings and focus on this one. We'll figure out what to do about Garcia when we're done here."

"Yes sir," JJ said with a nod. She looked at Olivia. "We should get going to the next floor."

Olivia nodded. "Right." The two of them flagged down another few officers before making their way to the stair well to continue on to the next level.

The search finished in the building they were in with relative fruitlessness. Apparently the floor with Penelope's photo was where he had set up shop and it was the only shop he'd set up.

"We need to go look over the scene downstairs again," Olivia said. Following behind JJ, the two of them ended up back downstairs in the physical crime scene where the crime lab people were already taking a look at the room. Olivia blew out a sigh as she looked at the room covered in photos of Penelope. There was still no sign of Derek anywhere, but when she looked to her side, she saw that JJ was staring at the pictures with a look of fright on her face. Putting a hand on her shoulder, she gave it a comforting squeeze. "I know this is pretty freaky. But you're handling it well. Certainly better than Derek."

JJ laughed bitterly. "Yeah well, Derek is super protective of Penelope," she said. "Possessive might be a word too. He loses it when she's in danger. There was a time when she had to negotiate with an unsub who refused to speak to anyone but her. He blew up at me afterwards for even considering letting her in the house. It was bad. I don't think I've ever seen him so mad."

"He'll figure out how to handle it better," she assured her. "He just needs a few minutes."

JJ looked at Olivia oddly. "You know, for only knowing him only a couple of days, you seem shockingly in tune with him. It's kind of eerie. Almost like Penelope."

Olivia shrugged. "I'll never be like Penelope," she said. "He's too in love with her to even see anyone else."

JJ nodded. "You're right," she said. "Very, very right." She observed Olivia closer. "Have you ever fallen for someone that hard? You know, you see them and your heart stops?"

Her eyes went wide and her face went white, as if she was embarrassed to say something. "Um," she stuttered. "Well, maybe..."

JJ felt her stomach butterflies go out of control at that moment and she didn't know what to say. Feeling her mouth go dry, she cleared throat and said, "Yeah, I don't know about it either."

Olivia blurted out something that made her heart beat faster than a rabbit's. "Do you maybe want to grab a drink when we have a break...from all this...?"

If she could've, her mouth would've dropped to the floor. But almost immediately she nodded vigorously. "Yes. Yes I would."

A smile covered Olivia's face. "Alright then," she said. "It's a date."

XXXXX

Penelope rubbed her forehead tiredly. Her argument with Derek and her confidence he'd slept with Olivia was driving her nuts. After the team had left she'd cried for ten minutes. Even Fin wasn't there to cheer her up. They were all out searching the area the signal had been found.

No calls had come in for her and she didn't anticipate any would come in for her anytime soon. She needed air. So rising from her seat, she grabbed her cardigan and headed out the door. She needed to go outside for a moment and get some fresh air.

Or at least as fresh of air as she could get in the middle of Manhattan.

As she made her way out the door and into the side alley, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to empty her head of all thought. But unfortunately ever time she closed her eyes to even blink, an image of Derek filled her head. Every contour of his face, every inch of his body, every fabulous movement of his eyebrows. Her body started to quake and she had to steady herself. For some strange reason she couldn't stop herself from feeling...warm. His anger made him even more sexy to her, despite her anger at him. She may have been furious with him, but it didn't change the facts.

While her eyes were closed, a voice broke out. "Hello there..."

Her eyes snapped open and she looked sharply towards the source of the voice. "Um, can I help you?"

"I believe you can, you fucking whore!" he shouted, still remaining in the shadows.

Furrowing her brow, she said uncertainly, "Sir, I think you have me confused with someone else. I've never met you before."

"Sure you have, sweet thing," he cooed.

"No," she said firmly.

Finally the man came out of the shadows and she gasped. The man who came out was severely scared on the face, like a woman had dragged her nails down his skin. His eyes were full of malice and he began to stalk closer to her. She tried to move away, but before she could make it away, he grabbed her roughly and held her in an iron grip.

"Gotcha," he hissed.

Opening her mouth to scream, no sound was able to escape as he placed a cloth over her mouth. Within seconds, her mind went black and she lost consciousness.


	12. The Perfect Substitute

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**So yeah, the unsub got Penelope and JJ and Olivia are getting a little closer. Lots of case stuff for right now before we get back to the ooey gooey romance stuff. Thanks for the reviews so far and I hope you like this one :)**

"Have you calmed down yet?"

Derek turned around from his pacing to find Hotch looking at him with a hard expression on his face. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Hotch man, we have to keep her safe. That sick fuck has pictures of her. He's going to try and get to her."

"You think I don't know that?" Hotch asked incredulously. "Right now though, you need to focus on the search. I'm calling to let the precinct know to keep her inside." Noticing Derek was about to speak up, he added, "No, you're not going to call yourself because you're just going to want to talk to her. And that is off limits considering the display of behavior I saw this morning." Derek clenched his jaw and rubbed his face tiredly. "Morgan, you and Garcia will have to talk at some point and figure this out, but right now is not that time." Gesturing to the door, he said, "We have to get in there now."

Grumbling to himself but going inside anyway, Derek stalked past the staring cops and back into the room with the pictures of Penelope. JJ and Olivia both looked up and nodded to him.

"Where are we with this?" he said.

JJ picked up a few pieces of paper that looked to be receipts. "These show purchases from a few months ago and a few from just a couple of weeks ago. They were for a knife sharpener, kerosene, a bunch of different computer cables and tools."

"What was it paid for with?" Olivia called out as she was searching through more of the papers on the desk.

Derek shook his head. "Cash, by the looks of it," he said dejectedly. He caught sight of Hotch coming back into the room and shot him a look. "Hotch? Did you make that call?"

"Yes, Morgan," Hotch said, not looking at him as he went to observe the pictures. "The officer I spoke to said she wasn't in the office, but that he'd seen her walking in the direction of the restroom a moment before I called. He'll let her know to stay inside when she gets back."

"What if she goes outside instead of going back to her computer?" he asked snippily.

Hotch shot JJ and Olivia a look that told them to keep Morgan busy. JJ took his arm and pulled Morgan towards the piles. "Look through these," Olivia ordered. "Stop being snippy."

Derek didn't look happy about it, but he did it anyway.

The piles and piles of papers that the unsub had laying around led to nothing. Most of them were receipts for items payed for with cash. However, an hour later after searching through two of the piles, JJ found something that made her pause.

"Olivia, Morgan," she said. "You need to take a look at this." She held up the sheet of paper and Derek snatched it from her.

His eyes went wide. "Holy shit," he said.

Olivia took a look at it and she shook her head. "Let me call Cragen and let him know to have an interrogation room open. I'll also have Casey get us a warrant."

XXXXX

Derek, Olivia, and JJ strode into the SVU precinct at and Olivia led them towards the interrogation rooms. "He's right this way," Olivia said. Behind the glass, they found Stabler, Cragen, and Casey all watching Father Andrew Franklin as he sat in the small interrogation room, his head bent as he prayed.

"How long has he been like that?" Derek asked.

Stabler snorted. "Too long," he said. "We made it very clear that he wasn't under arrest, but he just said he needed time for 'contemplation ad reflection with the Lord.'"

Casey nodded. "If you can get something out of him, we might be able to put him under arrest," she said.

JJ shook her head. "We don't think he's the unsub," she said. "He doesn't fit the profile at all. It's likely he knows them, though."

"Do we think he's going to open up at all?" Cragen asked, looking to Derek and JJ.

"We'll have to see," Derek answered. "I've been thinking about it and I think the visits to the Matthewson Sanitarium might have been to visit someone who was discharged. The profile of the unsub suggests he would have severe problems with delusion. Maybe that's our connection."

"That's a good thought," Stabler said. "I've thought the same thing. Who do we wanna send in there to talk to him?"

"I'll go in," Derek offered. "Detective Stabler? Care to join me?"

Stabler nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'll go in with you." Olivia was glad Elliot was opening up slightly to a Federal agent.

"Keep it in check, Derek," JJ warned. "We'll let you know if there's anything new to report."

Both Derek and Stabler entered the interrogation room and Franklin looked up at them both. "Ah, Agent Morgan," he said sarcastically. "Always a pleasure to see your smiling face. No Agent Jareau or Detective Benson today, I see." His eyes flicked to Stabler. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Detective Stabler," Derek said, gesturing to Elliot. "We hope you're comfortable. Now, do you know why you were called in to answer some questions?"

He nodded. "Yes, I do actually," he said. "The younger agent, Dr. Reid told me that you were calling me in because my name had been found in your investigation in direct correlation with the person committing these crimes against the women."

"Something along those lines," Derek said, sitting down on one of the chairs. He sat back and observed Franklin. "Your name was found at the scene of where the signal of the videos the murderer has been putting on the internet."

Franklin kept his face neutral. "I have no idea how that would happen," he said calmly. "Maybe this killer wishes to find guidance from the Church."

"This kind of killer, he's not looking for guidance from any church," Stabler snapped, taking the seat next to Derek. "I'd be willing to guess that he didn't have your number for anything like that."

"You cannot guess the desires of any man's heart, Detective," Franklin said.

"No, but these guys who came from the FBI can," Stabler returned. "They can figure out why a person did something and what they had for breakfast right before hand."

Derek nodded. "What he said."

"Why don't you tell us how you know this guy?" Stabler said harshly. "That will help us immensely. And you'll be saving yourself a hell of a lot of heat. You really think it won't go hurt your beloved Church's reputation to hold out on this information."

A knock sounded on the door and Stabler got up to go check on who it was. He opened the door and Cragen stuck his head in to whisper something. When Stabler's eyes went wide, Derek knew something was happening. He rose from his seat and went to their sides to see what was happening. "What's going on?" Now Hotch had entered the scene. And his face was grim. Definitely not a good sign. Derek pushed them all out of the interrogation room and closed the door behind him. "Why is everyone so freaking quiet right now? You're acting like someone -"

Cragen cut him off. "Agent Morgan, the unsub just sent us another video," he said.

"But there hasn't been another killing," he said, his brow furrowing in confusion. No one spoke again and he growled, "Why won't anyone tell me what the hell..." His voice trailed off and he stormed out of the room to where the computers were set up. His gut dropped and he pressed the "play" button.

"_Hello BAU Special Agents," _the still shadowy unsub hissed to the camera lens. _"This message is directly for you, even though the world can see it._

"_By now you should realize that your darling red headed maiden is no longer present at your precinct. If you haven't, shame on you." _He moved out of the way of the camera to reveal a tied up, gagged, and bound Penelope. Her eyes were wide and there were tears streaming down her face. She was shaking from fear. Derek felt his blood go cold. _"See, this one is different from my other girls. She's special. She's my _soulmate._ But unfortunately for my lovely darling, she's a terrible,terrible girl. She lied to me. She shacked up with another. You know exactly who this other is. He took her. He'll suffer the consequences. Because I'm going to tape every last second of her torture and you will go through the same thing I went through when she left me._

"_So you will not be seeing her again. That much should be obvious. Not now. Not ever." _He paused to let out a cackle. _"However, I am in the giving mood. I'm going to be a nice boy and take off her gag. She gets to say her last goodbyes to you all before she meets her untimely death."_

Turning his back to the lens once again, he stalked towards Penelope and loosened the gag around her mouth. It was clear that there were sore red markings at the corners of her mouth. The unsub backhanded her across the face and hissed in her ear, "_Speak_! _You have three minutes!"_

Derek had never wanted to beat a man's brains in more.

Stifling a sob, Penelope cried, "_I wanted to tell you all how much I love you guys. Hotch, you're the best leader and father in the world and I hope Jack continues to be the boy you and Haley raised him to be; Rossi, you always know how -" _She choked on her words. _"- you always know how to make me laugh and you're the greatest Italian I've ever met; Blake, I know we had a little trouble starting off, but you're one of the smartest women I know and also one of the strongest; Reid, I want you to know that you can keep smiling, even if Maeve is gone and you can always keep her alive in your heart; JJ, tell Henry that I love him and I know you'll be able to find love again."_

She started to cry harder. _"And Derek...I love -"_

The unsub backhanded her once more and spat, "_Time's up!" _He grabbed the cloth and shoved it in her mouth again, resuming her silence. Returning to the camera, he finally revealed his face and a huge unpleasant grin lit up his face. "_Sorry I had to cut that little declaration of love short, _Derek_!" _He spat Derek's name out. _"Hope that was a sufficient farewell. It's the last one you'll be getting."_

And then the video finished and the screen went black.

Derek found himself sinking to the chair closest to him, his eyes wide and his chest full of agony. Words escaped him. Cragen, Hotch, JJ, and Olivia had witnessed the whole video. JJ and Hotch looked just as pale as Derek and there were tears swimming on the surface of JJ's eyes. Derek put his head in his hands. His world had stopped. Every sound had turned louder and his vision was blurry.

But then the sadness and fear turned to unadulterated rage.

Rising from his chair, he roared, "We need a technical analyst now! We have to trace this signal and we have to get Penelope back from this sicko!"

By now the rest of the team had shown up again, Fin, Munch, Stabler, and Casey in tow.

"What the hell is all this yelling about?" Casey demanded, hands on her hips.

"The unsub took our technical analyst," JJ said mutely, covering her hand with her mouth. "Hotch, Morgan's right. We need another analyst."

Hotch nodded mutely. "Reid, I want you to call Kevin Lynch up here right away," he said. "He's not Garcia, but he's the best we have right now."

"Until then we'll get one of our own on the job," Cragen said. "Maybe they can get a head start."

Blake spoke up. "My guess is he's going to keep her longer. She's the object of his desire. The perfect substitute."

Hotch nodded. "Let's get started looking for her then." When the rest of them dispersed in a frantic fashion, he went to Derek's side where the younger agent was fuming. He put his hand on his shoulder. "Morgan, are you going to be okay doing this?" he asked quietly, yet firmly.

Morgan nodded with a clenched jaw. "I'm going to be perfectly fine," he hissed. "Right now I'm going to go get as much information out of this bastard as possible."

As he started off, Hotch followed him and added, "Derek, you do know what happens since he'll be keeping her longer."

He nodded and bent his head. It was very clear, the pain he was in.

"Yeah," he said tensely. "That the torture will be ten times worse."


	13. The Torture Begins

**Disclaimer: Neither of these shows are mine. Wish they were. Alas...**

**Okay, so here's the lucky number thirteen of this story. Lots and lots of case stuff. Let's buckle down and get Penelope rescued!**

After the unsub turned the video camera off, Penelope couldn't stop her tears. She wished she could've told Derek she loved him. Well, finished telling him she loved him. The unsub had smacked her so hard she saw stars before she could finish. Now the last memory of her Derek would have of the two of them was a major fight.

"Dearie, I've never been more excited to see you," the unsub said as he turned around again and grinned maliciously. He strode closer to her and stood in her face. "You are so beautiful. And you have the most beautiful hair. I just love running my hands through it." He put his hands on her scalp and gently began to massage it. For a moment he was gentle, but the moment a whimper sounded, he dug his nails into her skin and his grip became brutal. "What? You don't like that? The feeling of my hands not doing it for you?" She didn't mean to move, but she was shaking so hard that to him it looked like she was shaking her head. He slapped her again. "You don't like the feeling of my hands on you anymore, do you? Whose hands do you like on you?"

Snapping his fingers, he said, "Oh! I know who you want!" He rushed to the table where his tripod was set up and grabbed something. Running back to her, he shoved the paper in her face. It was a shot of Derek on the day when they arrived to New York. It was clear that the unsub was not a fan of him. "It's this boy! I should've known! You think he's so handsome...don't you? Certainly better than me! I never could compare to someone so _muscular, _so _handsome_." He hit her once more and this time her vision began to get patchy with black spots.

"Got anything to say?" he hissed down near her face. "Maybe sorry? Are you going to say sorry to the man who loves you?" He ripped the gag from her mouth and hit her once more. "Well? I loosened your tongue for you! Say something!"

With a trembling voice, Penelope whispered, "I - I'm sorry! Please, s-stop!"

"Oh, sweetie," he said in a sickly poisonous voice. He stroked her cheek with his finger and said, "I can never stop. A whore like you makes it impossible for me to stop. You torture me, I torture you. It's the circle of life, sweeting."

Whimpering, Penelope said, "Please...I don't know you! You're sick! Let someone help you!"

"_Help me_?" he repeated incredulously. "I've asked _everyone_ to help me! God, my father! Neither of them was keen on helping me! When you left me, they abandoned me too! You don't seem to understand that. No one can help me." He shook his head and walked to the crucifix that was hanging over the video camera. She couldn't see his face, but the anger in his voice told her exactly what he looked like. "See, my father used to visit me when regularly. But now he only talks to me when I need him to. Sometimes he doesn't even answer the phone. What kind of father does that? I mean, I'm his son! But then again, if God told him to, he'd kill me. Just like with Abraham and Isaac."

Wanting to wipe away her tears, but unable to, she whispered, "I'm really sorry. Please...let me go. Maybe I can help you?"

He turned back around to face her. She froze. She never should have said anything. He was even more furious. Instead of just slapping her, he punched her. Letting out a yelp, she ended up tasting blood. She'd bit her own lip on accident.

"_No one can help me!_" he roared. "_No one!"_ Picking up her gag once more, he reinserted it in her mouth and hit her once more. "Certainly not you, you little whore."

XXXXX

_SVU Precinct_

"Derek, you won't be reentering that room with Franklin," Hotch said as Derek tried making his way to the interrogation room again.

Derek's face was furious. "No!" he hollered. "No! I'm getting that answer out of him! He'll tell me where to find this son of a bitch. If he doesn't, I'll beat it out of him."

"That's exactly why you won't be entering that room again," he said firmly. "We can't have you beating a possible accessory. You cannot threaten the investigation. Beating him won't make him cooperate. We need him to talk to us. And for that I'm sending in Detective Benson. She'll be able to be objective enough to get it out of him." He paused and put his hand on his shoulder. "Morgan, this is the best way to help Penelope. We'll be able to get to her quicker if we don't intimidate Franklin."

A sigh finally came from Derek's lips and he rubbed his forehead. "Fine," he said gruffly. "But I'm going to watch the questioning." He followed Hotch towards the interrogation room. Olivia was getting ready to enter again and she met Derek's eyes before reaching for the doorknob. She nodded to him and seemed to be trying to cheer him up. Nothing would pick up his spirits though. Nothing but getting Penelope back. And then as soon as he did, he would tell her exactly how he felt.

He went up to the glass as Olivia entered and Franklin looked up. A smirk covered his face and he sat back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Oh, there you are Detective Benson," he said with false glee. "I was wondering when I'd see you. Are we going to be seeing Agent Jareau too? I figure we will, seeing as you two are so...close."

Derek clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to punch the smirk off of the reverend's face.

Olivia was holding her own though. "Well, I wouldn't miss this opportunity to meet with you, Father," she said pleasantly. It was clear she was faking the the enthusiasm. "Now, are you going to answer our question from before we had to duck out for a moment? Time is of the essence. If you know of someone who may have seen this person or, say...you _yourself_ knows anything, you had better step forward with it now." She folded her hands on the table and waited with a cocked eyebrow.

Franklin stared back at her and said, "Detective Benson, I don't know anything about this. Really, every time you ask me about it doesn't make my brain magically have information you need."

"You call yourself a man of God," she spat. "You would rather let a killer run around this city, killing and violently raping women, than tell us anything you know. You should really take another look at the Bible."

With a glare, he responded, "Don't try and lecture me on the Word of the Lord. You hardly are in a position to tell me anything."

On the other side of the glass Derek was fuming. "This bastard deserves to burn in hell," he said through gritted teeth.

"Franklin, you might want to tell us something about this," Olivia said, losing her patience very rapidly. "Because there is a very angry FBI agent on the other side of the glass that is not happy with you. So you really do want to remember something."

Franklin laughed. "Ah, Agent Morgan, eh?" he said. "If anyone I know needs to find God, it would be him. He's got a lot of anger raging through him."

"We're not here to talk about Agent Morgan," she said bluntly.

Derek shook his head angrily and started to stalk out of the interrogation room area. "Where are you going Morgan?" Hotch asked.

"To fetch a laptop," he growled.

When he returned he stormed past everyone and into the interrogation room. He slammed the computer down and glared at Franklin. "Now listen to me you, son of a bitch! Watch this and _then _tell me you don't know anything!" He pressed the 'play' button more forcefully than he should have, but the sound of the unsub's voice and then the weeping of Penelope filled the room. The sound of it was torture to Derek's ears, but he forced himself to listen to it. Franklin had to hear it. The video finished and Derek shut the computer. He glared at Franklin.

The pastor was now pale faced and sweating. Derek leaned in closer to his face and hissed, "Now...tell us what you know!"

Franklin sat still for a moment with a frightened look on his face before rising to his feet. "Agent Morgan, I know nothing," he snapped. "Now, since I'm not under arrest, I'm free to leave whenever I want and -"

Before he could finish, Derek had grabbed him by his shirt collar and slammed him up against the wall and pressed his arm against his collarbone, keeping him locked in place. "Listen to me! Tell us what you know! That bastard has Penelope and if you -"

"Morgan! Enough!" Hotch and Olivia both grabbed Derek by the shoulders and pulled him backwards from Franklin to keep him from strangling him.

"Let me go! He knows something!" Derek roared as he was pulled from the room.

As soon as he was pulled out of the room, Hotch's face turned dead serious and furious. "Go cool down, Morgan," he thundered. "You are not to go within fifty feet of Andrew Franklin. We've got a lot of damage control to take care of, so get out of here and go get a cup of coffee."

Furious, Derek didn't respond. All he did was stalk out of the room. He would find out one way or another how Father Franklin was connected.

XXXXX

JJ had only heard about how awful Morgan's outburst had been. And gossip wasn't the only thing she'd heard. She'd heard much of it just being out in the center of the precinct. He had been that loud. Currently she was waiting for Kevin Lynch to arrive to start work on finding the new location of the videos. She was sitting on a bench outside the elevators with her head in her hands. Her best friend was taken and in the hands of a crazy unsub with a vendetta against red heads. The last words she'd been allowed to speak were for the team and the ones she'd said to JJ were that she would find love again.

"How are you holding up?"

She looked up to see Olivia holding two cups of coffee. Holding out one of the cups for JJ to take, she sat down next to her. "Thank you," JJ murmured, taking a sip of the steaming liquid. She let it warm her insides until she felt slightly better. "You know, I can't figure out how this could have happened to her. Penelope is one of the kindest people in the world. How come this happened to her? Why?"

"You'll go crazy asking yourself that question," Olivia said tenderly. "There are no answers to it. The only thing you can do is work to get her back. Which you will. And with Derek on the job, my guess is it will happen sooner rather than later."

"I'm just worried about the downward spiral he's on right now," JJ admitted. "I only heard about it, but you saw what he did to Franklin. He could have broken his collar bone. There's no way we're escaping a law suit...unless of course we find out he was an accessory."

"We'll figure it out," she reassured her. Taking JJ's hand, she gave it a squeeze and added, "And Penelope will be back safe with Derek. Right where she belongs."


	14. The Father Confesses

**Disclaimer: Neither are mine. Which is unfortunate because if they were, the likelihood of me meeting Kirsten Vangsness and Mariska Hargitay would increase tenfold. Ah, I love those ladies...**

**Whew! Sorry I haven't updated this is in like forever. I'm still working on it...just not as much as my other two. So we've got some more evil unsub in this one, and let's not forget our friendly reverend who's holding out on us about what he knows. It all commences now!**

Derek was pacing furiously in the hallway near the elevators and running his hands over his head. He wanted nothing more than to kill Andrew Franklin. He knew something about who the unsub was and he was their only chance at finding them currently. He had to do something.

"Yo Morgan!"

Turning to see Fin coming towards him, he glared at him and growled, "What?"

"The technical analyst from Quantico you guys called to help is here," he said. "Said his name is Kevin Lynch."

Fury boiled in Derek's blood at the sound of Lynch's name. The bastard had broken Penelope's heart and they were expecting him to help get her back? He wished Penelope had never trained him so that there was someone better to help. But right now he had to set aside his personal issues with Lynch. The most important thing was getting Penelope back and then never letting her go. He nodded to Fin and said, "Alright. Take me to him."

"He's this way," he said.

When Fin led Derek to Lynch, Kevin held out his hand to shake his. But when Derek didn't shake it back, he awkwardly dropped it and cleared his throat. "Alright Agent Morgan," he said. "What can I do to help get Penny back?"

Fin took them into the empty office where Penelope's computers were set up and Kevin started to sit down. Derek glared at Kevin and said, "You can sit down and shut up and help us find her. Then you can leave her the hell alone for the rest of your life!"

Kevin looked taken back and Fin cocked an eyebrow at what was unfolding in front of him. "Er, Agent Morgan?" Lynch said. "You don't get to tell me to leave Penny alone. That's not your place."

"After the way you treated her, I would count your blessings that I haven't flattened you already," Derek growled. "So, yeah. It's my place to tell you if you can leave her alone."

Lynch glared up at Derek as he started typing and logging into the system. "For your information, _Agent Morgan, _what happens between Penelope and I is none of your business. _She_ invited me over and _she_ asked me to -"

Before the words could leave his mouth, Derek had socked him in the mouth with all his strength.

"Alright," Fin said gruffly, grabbing Derek by the shoulders. "Come on, Morgan. Your boss is right...you need to take a walk."

"Let me hit him one more time!" Derek growled as Fin dragged him from the room.

XXXXX

Hotch decided he was going to have to go in after Derek small episode to try and get Andrew Franklin to open up. There would be a lot of damage control to take care of. He was worried sick about Penelope. She had no training whatsoever and wouldn't know any stalling techniques or ways to keep the unsub from killing her prematurely. He was terrified. But unlike Derek he would be able to control himself from blowing up in the face of every possible witness and accessory they came across.

Opening the door to the interrogation room again, he crossed his arms over his chest and stood in front of the ashen Father Franklin. "Father Franklin, I apologize for the actions of my coworker. The woman in the video is...well they're very close."

"I'm very sorry this man took his friend - Penelope is her name? - but there's nothing I can tell you," he said shakily.

Hotch turned on his most vicious stare and fixed the reverend with a cocked eyebrow. "Father, I can easily charge you with obstruction of justice for not cooperating with us. And if you do know who this man is and you are indeed protecting him, you can be charged as an accessory to all these murders."

"Agent -"

"Father Franklin," Hotch said, putting both his hands on the interrogation table and shook his head. "We _know_ you know something. If you help us and give us the information you have, we can cut you a deal. But as soon as I walk out of this room, that deal is no longer on the table. Right now I've got a technical analyst with no training and the man who has her is planning on torturing her and filming it. Currently you are the only one who can help."

For several minutes he was completely silent. Then he sighed. "The man who you're looking for is named Adam. Adam Laderman...he's my son." He sighed. "He was committed to the Matthewson Sanitarium a few years ago but they released him a year later. We've been able to keep him under control, but a few months ago his girlfriend broke up with him for another man and he lost it."

"Where can we find him?" Hotch asked harshly.

"I don't know," he said.

"If you're lying right now, no deal," Hotch snapped.

Franklin looked up at him sharply and said, "Agent Hotchner, I'm not lying right now. The last I knew where he was staying at a youth hostel near Harlem."

"Does he have any credit cards that he uses? Any way to check activity online?"

"I wouldn't know," he said. "He doesn't have a credit card that I've given him. And I wouldn't give him any money. He's not welcome at our home. When he comes to see me, we meet at the Church. He does attend services there."

"Anything else we should know?" Hotch said hardly. Franklin shook his head and Hotch nodded. He started for the door. Turning around, he threw over his shoulder, "I'd call your lawyer if I were you."

XXXXX

Penelope's mouth was sore after hours in the gag. She'd been left alone for a while and there was only the silence of the room to keep her company. At the moment she was seriously regretting dying her hair red. She wondered if the team was going to find her before or after the unsub mutilated her body. It wasn't death so much that scared her as the pain that was coming. She'd tried wiggling out of her bonds, but her pursuit had been futile.

A crashing noise sounded and the door to her prison opened and the unsub came stomping in, a suitcase in hand. Penelope looked at the case with wide eyes and winced when he set the case down on a table and a clanking sounded in it.

"Hello dearie," he snarled, grabbing her by the hair from behind and yanking her head backwards. She winced and he laughed viciously. "I hope that hurt. And there's more on the way. In the hurt department that is. I know you've all seen my work at the Special Victims Unit's precinct. It's beautiful, isn't it?" He removed the gag from her mouth. the moment she didn't speak though, he hit her once again. "Tell me it's beautiful!"

With a shaking voice, she said, "It - it's beautiful."

He patted her cheek. "Much better."

"Please don't do this," she begged. "You just think you know me. I'm not someone you know. I just came to New York with my team -"

He smacked her again. "You mean you came with _him_!" he hissed. "Tell me...how would you feel if I killed your lover? He's got a lot of body surface area. I'd have a lot to cut up on him."

"Leave him alone!" she screamed, suddenly furious.

"Very quick to defend your beloved," he said. "What does he have that I don't?"

She glared at him. "He's kind," she spat. "He would never hurt anyone."

Chuckling, he rose to his feet again and went to the camera. "I'm going to start the film," he said. "And this one is specifically for him. I'm sure he'll love it. He'll _adore_ it!" He set the tripod up and set the camera up before pressing the "on" button. Waving at the camera, he said, "This is for Derek. My sweet girl tells me you're kind and would never hurt anyone! Now how about that?" He went behind Penelope and began caressing her shoulders and neck. "What do you feel right now, _Derek_? I'm touching her right now." He then leaned forward so he was resting on her body and ran his hand across her thigh, fingering the skirt of her dress in the process.

Penelope winced and closed her eyes tightly, praying his touch would just disappear. "Get off of me," she hissed.

He stood back up and once again struck her across the face. He strode over to his table and opened his suitcase and produced a small shiv that looked capable of slitting through bone.

"This will do nicely," he purred. Stroking one of her hands that was bound to the armchair. Swiftly he raised the knife in the air and slammed it down on her hand, slicing all the way through to the wood of the chair.

Penelope couldn't help it; the pain was too much. A piercing scream escaped her mouth and tears fell from her eyes. "You son of a bitch!" she cried. For her comment she received a punch.

"Potty mouth," he scolded. "You never used to swear. Is that something you learned from him?" He turned to face the camera again. "Shame on you, Derek. Teaching our little lady here to swear. That's not very nice." Laughing again, he went to the other side of Penelope and raised the shiv again, barely giving her time to prepare for him to puncture her other hand. Leaning down to Penelope's face, he kissed her cheek and grabbed her chin. "We're going to have all sorts of fun together. And your lover will get to see all of it."

**Sorry there was no JJ/Olivia in this one. I've got more plans for them though. Good stuff coming for them :)**


	15. Worthy

**Disclaimer: I own neither of these wonderful shows :(**

**Thank you all for the kind reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter :) It's going to be another rough one, but it'll get better later. JJ and Olivia get more scenes in the next one, pinky swear!**

"What did he do?" Fin asked Derek as they walked down the block towards a deli to grab a cup of coffee. The cool autumn air was slowly diffusing Derek's anger, however it was doing nothing to help his terror over something worse happening to Penelope while she was the unsub's hostage.

Derek looked over at Fin as they walked swiftly towards the deli. "Huh?" he grunted.

"The tech who's replacing Penelope," he repeated. "What did he do that hurt her so bad you would punch him that hard?"

He shot Fin a look that read death and shoved his hands in his pockets. "He treated her like a fuckin' prostitute," he grumbled. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, the rage and fury all of the sudden striking him again. His fists clenched into tight balls and he had to close his eyes to calm himself. The attempts he was making were futile. Nothing could calm him down. So to keep from breaking a random stranger's nose in a fit of instantaneous rage, he talked. "The asshole broke her heart. He tried proposing, she told him she wasn't ready for marriage, he left her for another woman. She tried again...he shattered her." He shook his head. "That asshole has never been worthy of her."

Fin put a hand on Derek's shoulder and forced him to turn around and listen. "You need to bottle up all this rage," he said firmly. "If you do, you'll be able to save her."

"I can't calm down," Derek admitted. "I can barely see straight right now."

"Hey, _hey_," Fin barked. "Get yourself mellowed out. You _can _calm down. You know why?" Derek fixed him with a look and he went on without letting Derek say anything. He poked his finger at Morgan's chest. "You are worthy of her. And because you're worthy of her, you are the best person to save her."

Derek was silent for a moment, trying desperately to take Fin's advice. After seconds of standing completely still, he nodded. "Alright," he said. "Let's go back. We need to get her back."

"That's right," Fin said, slapping Derek on the back. "We will."

XXXXX

JJ found herself tearing through paperwork and medical files on Adam Laderman. She had everything the SVU techs could find on him. The boy had had a rough time growing up. He was in trouble constantly, he spent time at Bible camps every summer, his mother -whose maiden name he had instead of Franklin - died when he was eleven. His medical records showed he had been in the emergency room at one point when he was thirteen to be treated for injuries he'd received during an exorcism. And after the information Father Franklin revealed to them regarding his girlfriend, Tiffany Monroe leaving him for another man, it was clear he was their unsub.

"God," she breathed out. "This kid fits the profile to a T."

Olivia glanced up at her and nodded. "Here are his records from Matthewson," she said, leaning closer to JJ and showing her what she had found. "He was on so many tranquilizers, it's amazing they even considered letting him out of there."

"What was he diagnosed with?" JJ asked.

Fingering through the file, Olivia found the diagnosis and pointed at it. "Severe bipolar disorder," she said. "Psychotic tendencies."

JJ groaned. "And he's delusional right now." She put her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples tiredly. "I can't believe this is happening to Garcia. This is insane." Tears filled her eyes and she wiped the wetness hurriedly from her face. This wasn't time for crying. They had to find Garcia, then she could cry. A hand covered hers and she looked up with damp cheeks and misty eyes at Olivia's compassionate and tender gaze.

No words were spoken, but they didn't have to be. JJ understood everything Olivia was trying to say. She was telling her she was there for her, that she would support her.

"Agent Jareau!"

JJ and Olivia's magic glance was broken by the nasally voice of Kevin Lynch flagging her down. She jumped up and rushed into the room he was in, Olivia following behind you. "What is it, Lynch?" she asked.

He gulped. "It's the unsub," he said in a hushed tone. His face was ashen. "He just posted another video. And it's addressed specifically to Agent Morgan."

"What is it?" Derek demanded, storming into the room with Fin before JJ could say anything else in response. He fixed Lynch with a fierce glare and added in a growl, "Lynch, I asked you a question."

JJ shot Derek a look. "Knock it off, Morgan," she hissed so only he could hear her. "Now is not the time to have a pissing match with him."

Derek ignored her, focusing his attention entirely on Lynch. "What is it?" he repeated with a voice as hard as steel. The glint in his eyes was murderous. If JJ were Lynch she would duck and run.

Lynch seemed to be taking the hint that he wasn't going to win with Derek and gulped. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he said in an overly quiet tone, "Er, the unsub just released another video. This time it was directly addressed to you." He stared up at Derek with wide, child-like eyes and added with a squeak, "I can play it right now if you want."

"We need the rest of the team up here," JJ said with a shake of her head, pulling out her phone to text them. She fixed Lynch with a look. "While we're waiting on them, check the signal. See if you can find the source."

Visibly relaxing as Derek wasn't the one talking to him, Kevin nodded vigorously and set to work on finding a signal. They all waited in anxious silence for the team and the SVU detectives to make an appearance. Derek was looking particularly grim, trying to mentally prepare himself for what horrors were awaiting him on the screen. He didn't want to watch it all, but if he was going to find Penelope, if he was going to be worthy of her like Fin thought he was, he had to see it. He had to find a way to defeat the unsub.

"He sent another a video?" Cragen asked as he entered the now crowded room.

Lynch nodded. "Agents Jareau and Morgan told me to wait until you got here to play the video," he said.

"Let's see it," Hotch said grimly, pain in his eyes at the thought of seeing Penelope on the screen.

They all braced themselves for what they were about to see.

The video, already at one million views, began with Adam Laderman waving at the camera happily, carefree. His deep voice filled the room. "_This is for Derek,_" he said, pointing at the camera as if he was looking straight at Derek through the virtual world. "_My sweet girl tells me you're kind and would never hurt anyone! Now how about that?_" He cackled wickedly and went around behind Penelope, who was staring ahead of herself with misty eyes, noticeably avoiding the camera lens. Her eyes closed tightly as Adam started to caress her neck and shoulders. Derek felt the immediate and uncontrollable urge to beat the ever living daylight out of the man violating Penelope.

It was official: he would kill the man if he ever got his hands on him.

"_What do you feel right now, _Derek_?_ _I'm touching her right now."_

He bent his body forward and leaned against Penelope's body from behind in a sensual manner. His hands rested against her thighs and the tips of his fingers began to creep up under skirt. Penelope's eyes squeezed shut even tighter, but then she snapped. "_Get off of me!"_

Derek felt his breath hitch in his throat. She was going to take more abuse for it. This unsub was about power. He wanted control over his victims. He wanted their silence. And Penelope speaking was going to get her hurt more. Sure enough, a loud smack sounded from the computer speakers and Derek had to close his eyes tightly to keep from cracking and crumbling to the ground in a pile of ash.

For a moment Adam disappeared from the view of the camera, but when he returned, a deadly blade was clutched tightly in his grip. The knife wasn't long, but it looked as if it could slice seamlessly through any substance.

"_This will do nicely_," he cooed. Without another sound, he slammed the shiv down on one of Penelope's bound hands.

As a piercing shriek escaped Penelope's lips, so did a gasp from JJ's mouth. Derek's fists reclenched and Rossi's jaw tightened. The whole room was silent. It was the most painful thing the BAU had endured in a long while. Through her frenzied, pained breathing, Penelope gasped out, "_You son of a bitch_!"

"No!" Derek whispered frantically as Penelope was punched violently, her head flopping backwards. "She's got to stop antagonizing him!"

"_Potty mouth_," Adam said, scolding Penelope like she was a misbehaving child. "_You never used to swear. Is that something you learned from him_?" He spat the "him" like it was a vile poison that he had to rid his mouth of. Penelope kept her mouth clamped shut in pain and Adam turned to the camera once again. This time Derek felt like his eyes were boring through him, even though the film wasn't live. "_Shame on you, Derek. Teaching our little lady to swear. That's not very nice._" He raised the shiv again and slammed it down on her other hand.

Penelope screamed again and tears poured out of her eyes again. Even just looking at her eyes on the screen, it was obvious that she was in more pain than any of them could understand. Adam smiled sensually and leaned forward to kiss Penelope and grab her chin roughly. "_We're going to have all sorts of fun together...and your lover will get to see it all._"

Through her agonized breathing, Penelope hissed, "_He'll catch you. Derek...he'll catch you. And you'll end up behind bars where you belong._"

Derek gritted his teeth and put both his hands on his head, trying to block out everything he possibly could. He was only becoming more infuriated by the second. It was tearing through his chest like an angry flash fire. "Lynch?" he ground out. "Tell me you've found something to give us a signal. Some idea of where he is."

"I'm still searching," he said frantically, not sure about whether or not he was more scared of what he had just seen or of Derek. But miraculously he was able to pick up something. He sat up straighter. "Wait! I just tried tracking his IP address. I found it! I found the exact location!"

XXXXX

Penelope was now alone in the room. The unsub had beaten her and begun to slash up her body the way he had the other women he'd killed. Her clothing was shredded, hanging on her body like scraps of blood covered newspaper. She was trying desperately to hang on to consciousness, but she was fading fast. And her torture was only going to continue. She'd seen the photographs and the videos. She knew there was more to come in the way of body marring and mutilation. And there was still the sexual assault. She was extremely grateful she hadn't been raped. The last thing she needed in addition to the intense pain she was experiencing was the powerlessness of being assaulted.

Through her daze, a small flicker of light caught her eye and she looked up. In front of her she saw Derek.

"_Derek_?" she gasped.

"Hi Baby Girl," he murmured.

A dreamy smile covered her face. "Are you real?" she asked hoarsely. "Please, tell me you're real."

He knelt down at her side and touched her cheek. He certainly _felt_ real. His fingers against her skin was there. He felt tangible. But then he shook his head. "No, Baby," he said. "I'm not."

Tears filled her eyes and a small whimper escaped her lips. "I wish you were," she said hoarsely. "I want you to be real."

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and slowly his form began to disappear into the air in front of her. "I'm coming for you, Penelope," he murmured.

She tried to say more, but he was gone, lost in the depths of her imagination and subconscious.


	16. Ten Stories Up

**Disclaimer: I own neither. WAH!**

**I apologize profusely for the delay in releasing this! I have been so caught up in "Beauty and the Morgan" and "Losing Everything" that I haven't really been paying too much attention to my crossovers :( This one should be (maybe!) another five or six chapters. We have to rescue Penelope still and we have Benson and JJ to get together still, so we'll see how many this will pan out to be. Thank you to all the reviewers and readers! I appreciate it an awful lot :)**

Penelope's eyes started fluttering open when she heard the sound of something large being dragged across the floor. She was still tied to the same chair she'd been tortured in and she'd had more hallucinations of Derek throughout her imprisonment. Each time he had ended with the same sentence.

_I'm coming for you_...

Right then though, her captor was dragging a huge mattress that was stained with blood into the room. A shiver of fear raced up her spine and she felt more tears well up in her eyes. "No," she whispered hoarsely. "Please...don't!"

He snickered and dropped the mattress on the floor. It landed with a loud thud. "You always used to love it when we did this," he said. "You always wanted this. Or is it _Derek _you want now? Are you going to cry out his name tonight?" He laughed more loudly this time. "I'm kind of hoping you do. I get to hurt you more then."

She was deathly afraid. "Please don't do this," she begged. "I'm sorry for...whatever I did to you. Please don't hurt me. I'm begging you. I'll do anything."

"It's too late for that," he said, going towards her and grabbing her bruised chin. "You have no chance to redeem yourself. You'll burn in Hell, where you belong." Hurriedly, he grasped for one of his knives and started to cut her bonds. Once she was freed, he grabbed her limp form and started to drag her towards the mattress.

"Please!" she wept. "Just kill me! Don't do _this_!"

He began to unzip his pants and unbuckle his belt. A wicked smile covered his face. But as she made a failed attempt at rolling away from him, the sound of blaring sirens could be heard and he rushed angrily towards the only window.

"It would appear as though your beloved Derek is here to save you," he growled. He walked back towards her and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head upwards. "I'm going to go greet him, I think."

"Derek hasn't done anything wrong," she whimpered. "Leave him alone! Please! I'm begging you!"

Laughing, he snickered, "No, what he did wrong was take you from me."

"I don't know you!" she screamed. "I'm not the girl who left you. My name is Penelope Garcia. I grew up in California. I've only ever been to New York for work."

He slapped her across the face and the pain resonated from her head to her toes. Yet another cry escaped her lips and he growled, "You can't lie to me, _Amanda_."

"My name is Penelope!" she screamed in frustration

Pulling her up by the hair, he whispered in her ear, "Shh...we've got to go, my sweet."

XXXXX

"Benson and Morgan, take the front door," Hotch directed. "Rossi, JJ, and Tutuola, go around back. The rest of us will take the side doors." He looked at Stabler. "Detective Stabler, do the snipers have visual?"

"They have movement from the street window," Stabler said, pointing towards one of the windows of the old abandoned factory where the unsub, Adam Laderman was holding Penelope hostage. "No clear shot though."

Morgan was a bundle of caged adrenaline. He was just waiting for the cue to let it loose. "Let's get in there then," he said gruffly. He looked at Hotch to make sure he was okay with it.

Hotch nodded. "He's on the top floor," he said. "Don't shoot him when you first see him."

Derek nodded and turned to Olivia. "Let's go, Liv," he said.

They started for the door and he tested the knob. Sure enough, it was locked and he had to kick it open. Both of them burst in and took opposite sides of the hall, checking to make sure Laderman hadn't come down to ambush them. "It's clear," Olivia said softly. "The stairs are down this way."

"Let's go," he said, not waiting for her as he turned and sprinted towards the stairwell. The building was old, the stairs creaky. "They're on the top floor. Come on."

As they were going up the stairs, a scream broke out from above them. The words, "My name is Penelope!" echoed through the stairs and Derek increased his pace. He looked backwards at Olivia and told her with his eyes that they had to go faster. They had another ten floors to travel up.

"Hotch," Derek said through his ear piece. "We've got noise about ten stories up from us. We're heading up."

"Be careful," Hotch said.

They reached the top floor after a heated climb up the stairs. "Derek," Olivia hissed. He whirled his head in the direction she was looking and aimed his gun at the dark corridor.

"What is it?" he whispered back.

"We've got to split up and go down the separate hallways," she said. "I'll take this one. You go down the other."

He nodded. "See you in a bit," he said. "Radio me if you find her."

"Will do," she said.

XXXXX

Olivia took off in the opposite direction of Morgan, heading into the darkness. She held her flashlight up and strode carefully down the hallway, careful not to step on anything that would make noise. She walked through the silence, listening for anymore signs of where Penelope might be. She had yet to find anything.

Ahead of her, she saw a strip of light underneath a doorway. She reached the door wrapped her fingers around the knob, carefully opening the door. In the dimly lit room, she found Penelope, her bruised and bloody body left on a dirty mattress and her clothes in tatters. Panicked, she knelt by her side.

"Penelope? Penelope, are you awake?" she murmured quietly. She gently took her face and shook her shoulders. "Penelope, are you in there?"

Slowly, Penelope's eyes began to flutter open and she looked up and saw Olivia. Her eyes were clouded with pain. "Olivia?" she said hoarsely. "Please tell me you're real. I keep seeing Derek and each time I do he's not real."

"No, Penelope," she whispered. "I'm real. I'm very real. Derek's with me. He'll be here soon. Where is Adam?"

"Who - who's Adam?" she asked with difficulty.

"The unsub," she said. "Where is the unsub?"

She shook her head. "He - he left," she whispered. "He said he was going to find Derek." Tears filled her eyes. "Please don't let him hurt Derek."

"He's not going to hurt him," she said. "I won't let him."

Penelope opened her mouth to say more, but then her eyes went wide and she lifted her arm weakly to point at someone behind Olivia. "Olivia! He's behind you!"

Olivia whirled around to see Adam Laderman standing over her with a knife. He grinned down at her and murmured, "Hello there, Officer."

**So there's a cliffhanger at this one and it's shorter, but that's all this one was meant to be. Hope you liked it :)**


	17. Rescue

**Disclaimer: I own neither show. I wish I did. Cause then I might get to meet Kirsten Vangsness and Mariska Hargitay. And that would just be plain AWESOME.**

**Sorry about the huge delay in this story! I know I left it with a cliffhanger, but I got so distracted with "Beauty and the Morgan" that I forgot to work on this one. I apologize :( Without further ado, here is the seventeenth chapter! Thank you for the reviews. PLEASE ENJOY AND REVIEW!**

Olivia barely had time to react to Adam Laderman's knife coming down on her left shoulder. He plunged the knife straight through the skin and she gasped. A fiery stinging broke out over her skin. Her vision began to swim and she forced herself to stand. She glared at him.

"Son of a bitch," she hissed, feeling the blood gushing from her wound.

"You can't take her," he growled. "I'll die before I let her go."

She gritted her teeth and shook her head. "Then I guess you'll die."

Launching herself forward, she knocked him down by tackling him. Her shoulder throbbed. Blood dripped down and stained his shirt. "You messed with the wrong team," she growled.

He cackled and poised his knife to strike again. Strangely enough, he seemed to have some training with a knife. He sliced his knife over her forearm and yet another vicious stinging broke out over her skin. "No, I messed with the whore who ruined my life!" The blade shot forward again, but she dodged him. "You're innocent in this...you don't have to die. Just leave me with Amanda!"

"Innocent? What about all those innocent women you killed? They were innocent too!" she shouted. Her fist connected with his face and he stumbled backwards, barely able to stay standing. "Just like Penelope is...she's not the woman who hurt you!"

"All of them are evil, seeds of sin!" he hollered. Brandishing his knife again, he shot forward and plunged his knife into her side, between her vest. The blade had slid between her ribs and she finally fell backwards into the wall. A cry of true pain escaped her lips.

"Olivia!" Penelope cried as she slumped against the wall.

"FBI! Put your hands in the air and drop your weapon!"

Olivia glanced up through her agonized haze and saw Derek standing in the doorway, his gun trained on Adam Laderman. She saw his gaze flick to Penelope and the clear pain in his eyes at the sight of her. Laderman just laughed. "So..._Derek..._in the flesh," he chortled. "It's an _honor_ to meet you!" He bowed his head. "I'm so glad we could get together! Did you come to have a little fun with our darling here too? She's waiting for us!"

"You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you for what you did to her!" he bellowed.

"Just try," he hissed. "I've hurt both these ladies. Would you rather kill me than help them?"

"I could just shoot you and be done with it."

"You would do anything for the woman you love...wouldn't you?"

"Yes." Derek glared at him with a look that could freeze blood. His answer was swift and sincere. His eyes flicked to Penelope and he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I love you, too," she murmured. Then her eyes closed and Derek felt his heart shatter. Was she breathing? Was she - dear God, no! - dead? He had to get to her immediately. But with Laderman still in the way, it was near impossible. He had to get him out of the way somehow.

Adam whirled around to face her and he hissed, almost snake-like, "You _bitch_!" And then he started towards her. But before he even made it close to her, Derek fired his weapon, hitting Laderman square in the back. He dropped to the ground, a howl coming out of his mouth. But he stayed down, the bullet having hit him in the spine. Shooting into action, Derek shouted into his earpiece, "Officer down! We need the medics up here immediately!" He glanced at Olivia. "Liv, are you okay for now?"

She gritted her teeth and nodded. "Take care of Penelope," she said. "I'll be fine until the EMTs get up here."

Derek didn't waste a second before going to Penelope's side. She was still as death. He put his fingers to her pulse; it was there, but it was weak. "Penelope! Baby Girl, can you wake up for me? Please!"

She remained still. He took a moment to observe her wounds. They were substantial and far more serious than he ever could of imagined. Hearing the man who had done this behind him moaning about his pain made his rage go from simmering to boiling in a matter of a millisecond. "Shut your fucking mouth over there!" he roared. "You deserve every inch of pain you're feeling right now!"

"Damn you, Derek! You fucking shot me!"

"Shut your mouth before I decide to shoot it off!"

The medics entered the room as he was trying to revive Penelope. He looked up at them frantically. "Please, save her," he said.

"We'll do everything we can," one said, urging him to move out of the way. "I need you to move now sir."

He pointed directly at Adam. "If that man asks for any pain medication, don't give him any," he growled. "He deserves every second of that pain."

The EMT merely nodded.

Across the room, JJ had rushed to Olivia's side, immediately putting pressure on her wounds. "Oh, God! Olivia, how many times did he get you?" she asked in a panicked voice.

"Just a few times," she said through gritted teeth.

Elliot rushed up next. "Liv! What happened?" he asked, fear for his partner written all over his face. Rage filled his face as his gaze switched to Laderman.

"He stabbed me," she said. "I'm okay, though. Penelope was the one who was really hurt."

JJ kept her hands on Olivia's wounds. She looked to Elliot. "Can you get her shoulder while I get her side?"

He nodded. "Of course." He looked down at Olivia and murmured, "You're going to be okay, Liv. We'll get you fixed up and you'll be okay."

She smiled weakly up at him. "Yeah, El," she said with a wince. "I know I will." Glancing up at JJ, she saw the concerned look in her eye and nodded to her. "Thank you."

JJ nodded. "Of course," she said, her stomach feeling queasy at the thought of Olivia being hurt. She looked up over at the EMTs surrounding Penelope and saw a very ill looking Derek watching over their shoulders as they worked. Penelope was the one who looked worst of all; she was truly afraid for her.

**Another very short one. I don't know how I feel about how it turned out, but you guys let me know! I'll try to make sure the next one is up sooner than this one :)**


	18. Coffee

**Disclaimer: I own neither.**

**So I had a lot of plane time and time running around in airports, so I decided to punch this one out right away so I didn't have to keep you guys waiting too long. I hope you enjoy it. A little long awaited JJ and Olivia time in this one. Thank you for the kind reviews!**

"Alright Detective Benson," the ER doctor said. "I need you to take it easy for a couple of days, okay? We don't want you ripping your stitches. We'll give you a prescription of pain killers too. You're going to want them."

Olivia had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Okay," she said reluctantly. "I'll be sure to behave for the next few days. Nothing to strenuous." She tried to sit up, but the doctor put a hand on her shoulder.

"Just wait another couple of minutes," he said. "I'll be back with your discharge papers." He nodded and took off out the door.

Leaning her head back against the hospital bed pillows, Olivia groaned. She hated hospitals in general and to be a patient this time was even worse. "You look happy," Elliot said with a smirk, entering the room.

She shot him a look. "I've been better," she muttered.

"What do they have you waiting on?" he asked, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. "Paperwork?"

She nodded. "Discharge papers," she said. "They're telling me I've got to take it easy for the next few days. That and I'll be on some pain killers."

"Something tells me you're _not _going to take it easy," Elliot snickered.

"You know me too well, El," she said with a soft laugh.

Elliot smiled. "Hey, so do you want to tell me what's up with you and Agent Jareau? What's going on there?"

Olivia got quiet after that. She didn't truly know what was going on with her and JJ. When she had found her shot, she had certainly looked worried for her. In fact, she had been scared shitless. That much was clear. And there were moments where she was positive of a true connection happening between the two of them. It wasn't by any means like the insanely strange connection between Derek and Penelope, but it was there. Did she ask JJ about it? Did she leave it alone? She honestly had no idea.

"Earth to Liv," Elliot said. "You in there somewhere?" He waved his hand in the air to get her attention. She blinked several times at him and he laughed. "You were in your own little world there for a minute. Thought you were going comatose on me."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," she huffed. "I'm just thinking."

"That's some awfully hard thinking you're doing."

She rolled her eyes. "I hope you know that if I had something within reach, I would throw it at you," she snapped teasingly. "I'm not even kidding either."

"Yeah, you are," he sniggered as the doctor came back in.

"Detective Benson, just sign these forms for us and you'll be all set," he said. "I've also got your prescription here too."

As she was taking the forms from him, Olivia asked with a grave voice, "Doctor, I was also wondering about the other two patients who came in. The woman and the man."

His eyes flashed. "Oh, you're talking about the Violator and his newest victim," he deduced.

"Yeah, that one," Elliot said dryly.

"Well, I can't tell you too much seeing as I'm not working on their case, but your fellow officers are waiting in the lobby for any news. One of them, a rather muscular looking fellow was yelling a little while ago. He settled down though."

Olivia glanced at Elliot and he shook his head. "Yeah, you should've seen that," he said. "It was almost as bad as when he flipped out at the station on Franklin."

"I seriously doubt anything could be worse than that," she said as the two of them exited the examination room and headed back to the waiting room where the rest of them were. The BAU and SVU were both gathered, along with Casey.

"Olivia!" she said. "Are you alright?"

Olivia held up her hands. "I'm fine, guys," she said to her anxious looking team. She looked up at the BAU team. All of them looked like they had been run through the dirt. Both Agents Hotchner and Rossi were staring stony faced at the ground, Dr. Reid and Alex Blake looked to be in quiet contemplation, JJ was sitting with her head in her hands. But none of them compared to the look of complete devastation that was covering Derek's face. He looked terrible. He was sitting off by himself in the corner of the room, his arms crossed over his chest, and his face contorted with a mix of terror, rage, and sadness.

"How is she?" she asked Hotch.

He looked up at her and shook his head. "We don't know yet," he said. "They're patching her up and then they'll take her into surgery. She has some major internal bleeding."

Olivia's gaze went to Derek first. Hearing Hotch's summary of how Penelope was faring had made him clench his fists into tight balls. However, he remained quiet.

JJ rose to her feet, tears in her eyes and said, "I'm going to get a cup of coffee."

Elliot shot Olivia a look that she didn't miss. _Take this chance_, he was telling her. She nodded quickly so that no one but him noticed, then spoke up. "I could really use one too. Is it alright if I come with you?"

She nodded. "I'd prefer the company, actually," she said.

Olivia nodded and followed her out of the lobby towards the main doors of the hospital. They walked outside into the brisk air and towards the twenty four hour coffee stand just down the block. She winced at the sharp jabbing pains coming from her side and shoulder.

JJ saw. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly, sticking her hands into her coat pockets.

"Yeah, I'm good," she said. "The stitches just sting a little is all."

They got in line to buy their coffee and waited patiently in silence as the steaming liquid was pouring into cups for them and they got their change. They started back in the direction of the hospital.

"Thank you," JJ began after sipping her coffee momentarily. "For helping Penelope. You have no idea how much that means to me. Or to Derek."

"You're welcome," Olivia murmured. They stopped halfway back to the hospital and looked at each other. Again, she felt the deep connection that she kept coming back to. Something about the look in JJ's eyes, the deep sadness, the desire for good, the light that desperately wanted to shine out, spoke to her and made her feel a warmth inside no one else had ever made her feel. She leaned forward and noticed JJ's breath increase in speed. And then she planted her lips on hers.

She brought her free hand up to cup her cheek and ran her thumb over her cheekbone. JJ responded to the kiss and tossed her coffee into the trash can close by. She wrapped her arms around Olivia's waist and held her tightly. Despite the cold, she felt on fire. Nothing could make her feel chilly when she was in Olivia's strong, capable arms.

Breaking apart, they rested their foreheads against one another's and stood for a moment in silence. "We'd better get back inside and see about Penelope," JJ said softly.

"You're right," Olivia said. "Would you like a sip of my coffee?"

JJ accepted the coffee cup and smiled. "I would love some," she said.

**Just JJ and Olivia in this one. Next one will be a lot of Penelope and Derek. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	19. The Nearness of You

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

**I am so sorry it took me so long to come out with the new one for this story! Many, many apologies. So now we took care of JJ and Olivia, now it's Penelope and Derek's turn. This story **_**will**_** end up happily ever after...like the rest of my stories xD Please enjoy and review!**

The doctor returned to the waiting room with a grim expression on his face. By now, most of the team and SVU squad had gone to get some sleep. Derek was in a chair, his head in his hands. Only JJ and Olivia, who had not returned from getting coffee yet, Detective Tutuola, and Rossi remained with him. All of them were silently sitting in the room, awaiting news on Penelope. Derek rose immediately and went to the doctor's side.

"Doctor," he said hurriedly. "How is she? What's your update for us? Is she -"

The doctor held up a hand. "Agent," she began. "Ms. Garcia is in a very rough condition. She sustained massive internal injuries from a beating, she was stabbed several times, her hands were both stabbed through completely. About the only thing she didn't sustain from the attack was sexual assault. She's still going to need major counseling though. Her mental state will take much longer to recover than her body." She nodded. "Surgery was successful, though. It will be a long time before she's fully functional, but she'll heal nicely, so long as she has the proper care back in Washington DC."

"I will take care of her the entire time," Derek said firmly. "I'll move in with her, I'll help her, I'll take her to her doctor's appointments, I'll -"

Putting a hand on his shoulder, the doctor nodded. "I'm sure you will," she interrupted. "Now, follow me and I'll take you to your girlfriend's room. She won't be awake for several hours still, but there is a couch in there if you wish to sleep on it. I'll be sure to let the nurses know."

Derek didn't even bother correcting the woman on her use of the term "girlfriend." If she hadn't thought they were together, he might not be able to stay with her. He couldn't risk it. Turning around, he looked at Fin and Rossi. "I'll go in and see her. You guys go get some sleep. You look exhausted."

They both nodded. "Text or call us if anything changes," Fin said. Rossi nodded in agreement. "We'll be here as soon as you call."

He looked at them gratefully. "I'll be sure to call you," he said. "Thanks for staying."

"Of course," Rossi said. "You just be sure to get some sleep as well. Don't run yourself into the ground. You worked hard today as well."

Derek said nothing as he watched the two of them take off. He had no idea where Olivia and JJ had wandered off to, but he had some idea it would be a good thing for their relationship. But at the moment he could care less about anything other than Penelope and her health. He looked back at her doctor and nodded. "I'm ready to go see her," he said strongly.

She motioned for him to follow her. "Come with me," she said. "I'll take you to her room."

Once in Penelope's room, he observed her still form. She looked so peaceful, like an angel in slumber. However, her appearance was shocking and different than any way she ever looked before. Her skin was bruised terribly and her hands and arms were covered in bandages to mend the cuts. Tears filled his eyes. They didn't fall, but he felt nothing but grief as he looked at his love. He looked at the doctor and nodded gratefully. "I appreciate you helping her," he murmured. "I'm so thankful she's going to make it through this."

"She's very lucky to have someone like you being there for you," she said softly. "I've seen people come in here, committed to taking care of their loved ones, but when I look at you, I see a man whose whole word is with her. You care about her more than yourself."

He simply nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." He started for the seat at the side of Penelope's be and sat down, taking her hand and looking at her tenderly. He didn't notice the doctor vacating the room; his focus was entirely on the woman in front of him. Stroking her cheek with his thumb, he murmured, "I'm so sorry I didn't protect you, Baby. I'm so sorry that we were fighting and that the last thing we talked about was fighting. I want you to know that there was never a single thing between me and Olivia, other than friendship. She helped me realize that I had to stop pussy-footing around my feelings for you. That night you were telling me about...that night she was just helping me pick out a shirt. I was going to tell you everything about how I feel about you. Because the feelings I have for you are so intense that I don't know what I would do without you."

For several hours, he talked to her. He talked to her about everything. About old times, about what he planned to tell her when she was awake, about everything they would do together when she healed up.

"I'll never leave your side again, Baby Girl," he yawned, leaning his head down and drifting off with his head resting on the bed.

XXXXX

_Penelope's fluttered open and she sat up in her place. She noticed that her body was completely normal and she was wearing flouncy dark blue dress and hot pink high heels. She looked shockingly like she was dressed for a party or a night out._

"_Hey there, Baby Girl."_

_She turned around and saw Derek, clad in a pair of black dress pants and a gray button up, the sleeves rolled up his forearms. He grinned from ear to ear and went towards her. Stopping in front of her, he held out his hands and she took them. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and kept his hand against her cheek._

"_Is this a dream?" she asked softly._

_He nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But it's a good dream."_

_She nodded. "It is," she murmured. "You're here."_

_Suddenly a soft tune started up and the ethereal voice of Norah Jones filled their ears. She grinned and pulled him towards her and brought her arms up around his neck. This was a dream, so she was going to make the most of it. She hungrily kissed him, letting the feeling of his warmth and desire run over her like the pleasurable hot water of a shower over tense shoulders. She nibbled on his lower lip and let his tongue slip into her mouth. The kiss was becoming too deep and she pulled away, breathing heavily. He held her hips in a tight grip and kept her there. "Since this is a dream, we're going to dance. So...are you going to ask me?" She raised a brow expectantly at him and smiled coyly._

_He kissed her forehead and smiled, offering her his arm. "Let's dance, Baby," he said. They strolled over to the dance floor and began swaying to the music._

It's not the pale moon that excites me

That thrills and delights me, oh no

It's just the nearness of you

_She laid her head against his chest and breathed in the spicy, wonderful scent of him. "I love you, Handsome" she murmured against the fabric of his shirt._

"_I love you, too, Baby Girl," he said against her hair._

XXXXX

The first thing Penelope noticed when she returned to consciousness was the intense pain she was on from every surface of her body. It was excruciating. A small moan escaped her lips and she opened her eyes to look around at her surroundings. Her vision was a messy blur, but next to her hand, she saw a dark skinned person.

Derek.

Tears, both from pain and the fact that her best friend was at her side, filled her eyes. She raised her bandaged hand up and accidentally hit him in the face. Immediately his head shot up and he looked as if he was staring at her. "Penelope?" he said hoarsely. "You're awake!" He sat up and picked up a pair of glasses from the table next to her bed. Sliding them on her face, she immediately met his eyes. She saw the concern and the franticness in his gaze and watched as he sat back down in his chair.

"How long have you...been sitting there?" she asked softly.

He shook his head. "Penelope, are you feeling bad? You know what? Let me go get a nurse!" She watched as he bounded out of the room before she could even open her mouth. Her breathing was shallow and she closed her eyes momentarily. It was probably good that she had let him go get a nurse. She was in an unbelievable amount of pain. She could hardly take it.

"Alright, Baby," he said, coming back into the room. Behind him came a nurse. "I got the nurse. She's going to give you some morphine."

The only thing she could do was nod stiffly. Moving her head was awful. "Thank you," she managed. "I...appreciate it."

"I'm inserting the morphine pump now," the nurse explained. "You will be uncomfortable until it kicks in, but it will make your pain lessen. Press the button over here if you need anything."

Once she was gone, Derek sat down next to Penelope's bedside and took her bandaged hand. You'll feel better real soon, Baby," he murmured. "Don't you worry. The morphine will take care of the pain."

"I hope you're right," she said tensely. She smiled softly at him. "You know, I had a really strange dream while I was asleep. We were dancing to Norah Jones. Just me and you."

He smiled sadly. "I know how much you like Norah." With a deep breath, he said, "Baby, I'm so, so sorry I didn't protect you from this bastard. I'm so sorry we fought, and I'm so sorry you thought I was sleeping with Olivia. I swear to God I didn't." She tried opening her mouth to get a word in, but he kept going on and on. "She was just helping me pick out a shirt to wear to go and talk to you when were supposed to meet. We're only friends. And -"

Finally she gained the ability to speak. "Derek, stop," she said with a few difficult breaths. "I don't want you to apologize for anything. You're -"

"I was a jackass," he said. "The way I yelled at you was completely wrong. I -"

"No," she said firmly. "There is nothing you need to say. We were both idiots. And because we were both idiots, we'll be able to get past it." She took a deep breath. "I guess I'll start fixing it by saying that I love you. Not in a platonic way, but in a full blown, most important person in my life way." She smiled as best she could with her batter face. "I love you, Derek Morgan...no kinda about it."

A smile spread across his face and pure joy filled his eyes. It was clear, just by looking at his face that he felt the exact same way. "I love you, too," he said tenderly. "More than words can say. And I will always be near to you."

"It's the nearness of you that keeps me from going completely nuts," she said. It's a damn good thing that you'll be here."

**By now (for those of you who have read "Beauty and the Morgan" anyway) know that I love Norah Jones. Thus, her songs appearing in this story as well. I am going to work so super hard to keep this one on the top of my list. I have an awful lot of stories going on right now (more than I can handle, truthfully) so I'm going to make this one a priority. Sorry to those of you who keep coming back and it's not updated. I know I got a few mentions of that in reviews and I wanted to let you all know that it should be changing, depending upon the workload I have.**


	20. The Eve of Returning Home

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

**I'm glad you all liked the previous one. I always enjoy throwing in a little Norah with my Morcia. Again, I would like to thank you for your patience with the release of these chapters. It means a lot to me that you continue reading this even though it takes me way too freakin' long for me to release the chapters! I sincerely hope you like this one :)**

**PS-To the guest who said "This is the best story I have EVER read", I wanted to let you know how much that made my day :) That's very kind of you to say that.**

"I think it's fair to say we are more than grateful that you all came to help us catch this son of a bitch," Cragen said, holding his hand out to shake Hotch's. "We're just sorry this had to happen to your technical analyst. She's a breath of fresh air from a lot of different people I've worked with in this field."

Hotch nodded. "She certainly is," he said. "She'll be here another week, provided that her vitals remain good and her strength is up. The rest of us, minus Agent Morgan, are going back tomorrow to Quantico." He nodded to the rest of his team who were packing up. "We're all glad to have been of service." His eyes drifted around to look at the detectives who were there. Both Fin and Munch were getting cups of coffee while Eliot was looking around as if in search of someone.

He came over to Cragen and asked, "Hey Captain, you seen Liv?"

"I thought she was coming in with you," he responded in confusion.

"Well, I haven't seen her," Eliot said. "I wonder where the hell she is..."

XXXXX

"So, when do you guys leave?" Olivia asked JJ. The both of them were walking through the chilly fall day in Central Park, each of them carrying cups of coffee in their gloved hands.

JJ looked down at her coffee cup. "We leave tomorrow morning," she said softly. "Derek is staying with Penelope until she can come back. You'll have to go visit them."

Olivia nodded. "I will," she said. "And I know Fin will want to spend some time with Penelope. The two of them seemed like they were getting to be good buddies." She shook her head and smiled. "Hey? What happened to the tech analyst that Derek was glowering at the entire time he was there?"

It took everything in her for JJ not to burst out laughing. The fate of Kevin had been hilarious in her mind. She had been there to witness what had happened to him; It hadn't been something she heard from someone else.

"_Derek?" Penelope asked sleepily as she started to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around with sleep glazed eyes._

_JJ leaned forward and took her friend's hand gently. "He went to get coffee," she murmured softly. "He'll be back in a few minutes. How are you feeling right now? Do you want me to get the nurses, get you some pain medications?"_

_She shook her head. "I'm okay," she said. She blinked several times at JJ before saying anything. "I feel like it's been forever since I've seen you."_

"_It feels like that for me, too." Shaking her head, she wiped a few tears from her cheeks. "Penelope, I'm so sorry this happened to you. God, I can't believe that bastard took you!"_

_Before Penelope could say any more, a knock sounded from the door and she and JJ's gazes were drawn to it. Penelope's attention was at it with anticipation, hoping it was Derek. JJ bristled at the sight of who it really was. In the doorway, in all his greasy-haired presence, stood Kevin Lynch, a parcel of flowers in his arms. The disappointment at who it was was clearly written all over Penelope's face._

"_Er, hi Penny!" he said anxiously, stepping into the room and placing the flowers on the table at the end of her bed. "I wanted to drop by and bring you flowers. I - I would have come earlier, but Agent Morgan...well, he wouldn't let me even come in the hospital."_

"_There's a reason for that," JJ muttered under her breath. Penelope shot her a look and shook her head. Nodding, she clamped her mouth shut. Her best friend knew what she was doing. All that was left for JJ to do was sit back and watch as she lit Lynch's head on fire. And something told her this was a show she didn't want to miss._

_Penelope's lips pursed as she glared at Kevin. "What are you even doing here?" she demanded. "What makes you think -"_

_Kevin, unwisely, chose to interrupt her. "Penny, does Agent Jareau really need to be here? I was hoping we could talk, in private if possible."_

"_She's not going anywhere," Penelope snapped. "_You_ are. You're the last person I want to see."_

_He laughed nervously. "Well, I - I thought that after what happened with us, you might want to...get back together?"_

_JJ bit her lip to keep from laughing at Penelope's reaction to his statement-turned question. "You thought after what you did to me that we would get back together?" she spat. "You thought that after going out with me, sleeping with me, then treating me like crap the next morning and for the time after that was going to lead to us getting back together?"_

_His eyes grew wide behind his glasses. "Whoa, whoa!" he said, holding up his hands. "I -"_

_He didn't get the chance to finish for the second time since coming into her room. Although this time, instead of Penelope reprimanding him viciously, it was Derek Morgan._

"He did what?" Olivia sputtered with laughter as JJ concluded her tale. "Are you serious?"

JJ snickered. "Hand to God," she said. "Morgan grabbed Kevin Lynch by the ear and pulled him out of the hospital room."

Olivia shook her head and sipped her coffee. She and JJ sat down on a bench and sat quietly, sipping their coffee as they stared at the gray sky and the people passing by on the paths. Looking over at her again, Olivia asked, "So...how do we want to...look at this? This _thing_ going on with us, I mean."

JJ sighed. "I don't know," she murmured. "We're about two hundred miles away from each other. I won't lie: I want nothing more than to try with you. I - I think I might be...falling in love with you." Seeing Olivia's eyes go wide, she backtracked. "I mean, I could fall in love with you. I haven't felt this way about anyone other than my husband before. I miss him still, but I can't stop what I'm feeling for you. And I just -"

Leaning forward, Olivia cupped her cheek with her gloved hand and placed her lips gently over hers. "We can try," she murmured as she broke away. "I _want_ to try. Because while I may be hesitant with love, I think I could fall in love with you, too." She smiled and looked JJ in the eye.

JJ, on the other hand, was speechless. The kiss that Olivia had just bestowed upon her lips wasn't a full blown, carnal kiss. It was just a simple, ordinary brushing of the lips that was filled with passion. The gesture was purely...beautiful.

"We shouldn't tell anyone yet, though," she insisted. "I just..."

Olivia nodded in agreement. "I'm fine with that," she said firmly. "We're not going to be able to keep Derek and Eliot from knowing...they already know that there was something between us."

Putting her head on Olivia's shoulder, JJ sighed softly and murmured, "That's okay," she murmured.


End file.
